Dreams Come True
by Phantom Of FFN
Summary: High school was a tough time in Bella's life. Abandoned and crushed by her broken dreams, she flees to New York to find a new life and happiness. Ten years later, she returns to Seattle, only to meet up with her unwanted past again. What will she do? Will she crumble or will she stay strong? AH, Rated M for lemons, ExB, Canon couples.
1. 1 My Past Comes Back to Taunt Me

**A/N: I don't own Twilight.**

**Hi! I wrote this very long three-shot before, but I took it down because I got discouraged by the complaints in the reviews I'd received. But I recently reposted another story, which I'd taken down for the same reasons, and I've decided to do the same with this story. I've decided not to let others dictate my writing. So here it is. _Dreams Come True_ is back.  
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**I hope you like it. **

**Enjoy!**

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**Chapter One: My Past Comes Back to Taunt Me**

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I sat with my cello in between my legs as I played the prelude from Bach's _Cello Suite No. 1_. I got so lost in the music that I didn't hear my nephew's little pitter patter footsteps walk into the room.

"Hi, Aunt Bewwa," Jeffrey's sweet voice broke through my concentration. His body swayed side to side as he played with his hands.

"Hey, there, little man, where did you come from?" I asked, setting down my cello to the side, so I could hug my little nephew.

"Mommy opened yorh dowa with huh key." His answer was so honest and simple. This was why I loved kids.

"Aunt Bewwa, what awe you pwaying?" Jeffrey shyly asked.

I smiled tenderly at my adorable nephew, who was sitting on my lap.

"Well, sweetie, I'm playing a song from a great composer named Bach," I told Jeffrey. He scrunched up his nose as he tried to hide a smile.

"Tha-th's a funny name, Aunt Bewwa." He giggled but suddenly looked confused for a moment. He looked endearing as he tilted his head to the side.

"What's a compo-stha?" he asked as he struggled with his lisp. His black hair covered his big, brown eyes that were the same as mine.

"A composer is a person who writes songs." I gave the simplest answer that a four year old child could understand.

"Oh, awe you a compo-stha, Aunt Bewwa?" I smiled at my nephew and nodded my head.

"Yes, I like to write music. Remember I wrote you that song that Mommy plays for you when you go to sleep." Jeffrey giggled sweetly.

"Oh, yeah, I fuh-got. Heh…" He gave me the biggest, toothiest smile as he reach down and pluck one of the string on my cello.

"Jeffy," Nessie called out, "Honey, where are you?"

"He's in here, Nessie," I shouted.

"Oh, there you are." Nessie smiled at the two of us.

Vanessa, or Nessie as we all called her, was my younger sister by two years. Even though we were siblings, Nessie and I were like night and day. We were extremely close, but we had our differences and rivalries like all siblings did. But for the most part, we got along perfectly well together.

Nessie was fortunate to inherit all the good genes from my mom while I had a lot of my dad's side in me. She was small and petite like my mother, but she had light brown hair that curled at the tips. I was what you'd called big-boned. I'd always struggled with my weight and body image. The only thing that we shared was my father's brown eyes.

I loved Nessie dearly; however, sometimes it really sucked being her big sister, both figuratively and literally. Well, when one had to live in a small town like Forks, where narrow mindedness thrived and the pressure to conform ran high, had messed with my self-image and self-esteem because I didn't look like the kind of girl people thought I ought to be. I got so used to being ridiculed and mocked for being heavy to the point where it didn't even bother me when comments were made at my expense. So one could imagine how empty my social calendar was, let alone how nonexistent the dating pool was for me. Nobody wanted to be with the fat girl.

As time went on, I came to believe that God must have had a twisted sense of humor because He made Nessie to be lovely and gorgeous like Cinderella, while I was stuck as the ugly stepsister…or real sister, in my case, and without the whole evil part. My parents had definitely made a mistake in the name department. Growing up, I hated my name because I felt like I represented the exact opposite of its meaning. I was far from being categorized as beautiful and should have been named Quasimodo instead. To this day, I still believe that the name, Isabella, suited Nessie more than me.

I smile up at my sister, but when she saw my cello, lying on the ground, she frowned apologetically at me.

"Now I hope that you're not bothering your Auntie Bella from practicing her cello, Jeffy," she gently scolded her son.

Jeffrey made a cute face filled with guilt as he looked up at his mother. Nessie tried to look upset at him, but I couldn't hide my smile from my sweet little nephew.

"Sth-owwy, Momma; sth-owwy, Aunt Bewwa," he whispered repentantly.

My hand reached out and ruffled his hair, and I gave him a firm squeeze.

"It's okay, Jeffy. I still love you," I whispered into his ear and pulled him even closer into me.

Then I tickled his sides, which made a giggle erupt from his belly. Nessie laughed along with us and then reach out for her son to take her hand.

"Come on, honey. We got to go and see Daddy now."

Jeffrey perked up at the sound of his father's name.

Nessie was married to Jacob Black four years ago. Jacob and Nessie grew up together since they were in diapers. They were inseparable, so it was only natural for them to fall in love with each other, get married, and have a family together. Nessie was Jacob's world, and he looked at her as if his day started and ended with her smile. They were married when they both turned twenty one and had Jeffrey five months later. My sister and her family moved out of the La Push Indian reservation near Forks, and relocated to Seattle to open an auto body repair shop around the same time I moved back west. They lived ten minutes away from me, which made me very happy.

I thought my sister and Jacob were very sweet together, but sometimes it was difficult to stomach some of their lovey-dovey PDA.

Maybe it was cynicism and bitterness from all the wounds that my past had scarred me with, or maybe it was jealousy over wanting to find the same love that they shared. I didn't know, and quite frankly, I didn't want to know the reason. All that mattered to me was I had loved twice in my life and that was enough for me to not go look for it again because I had failed miserably at it both times.

One was an unrequited, one-sided crush that never was reciprocated back to me. It left me empty and heart-broken. He was one of the main reasons why I ran away from my hometown, Forks, to New York. Picking up the shatter pieces of my heart, trying to mend it back together, while making the attempt to move on with my life were the some of the hardest things I had ever done in my lifetime.

Eventually, I did find someone, and he loved me back. He even asked me to marry him, and I said yes. Sadly, the second time I loved didn't end quite so well for me either, for he had left me for another girl, causing me to doubt my own self-worth as woman again. Was I wired wrong that made it difficult for me to find love and loyalty from a good man? No, I didn't quite know the answer to that question.

Though my ex's infidelity did hurt me badly, I still knew, deep down, that it wasn't nothing compared to the trauma left behind by my first love, even though was only one-sided on my part. Still to this day, I had firmly believed that I'd probably never get over him and carry his memory in heart until the day I died.

Suddenly, my thoughts were rudely ended by Jeffrey shouting into my ear before he planted a wet kiss on my cheek.

"Bye, Aunt Bewwa. I wuve you. I'll see you lay-duh, otay?" screamed Jeffrey.

I tried not to flinch in pain, but my ears were ringing. Nessie gave a sympathetic look before hugging and kissing me good-bye as well.

"Now you know how I feel on a daily basis." She giggled as she eyed her little boy. I rolled my eyes at her.

"Bye, Ness. Give my love to Jacob." I turned to Jeffrey. "Bye, my sweet little man. Give daddy a kiss for me." Jeffrey nodded his head enthusiastically.

Nessie and Jeffrey left my apartment after saying their goodbyes. I had to get ready to meet up with some friends for dinner, so I put away my cello and hopped into the shower. Afterwards, I got dressed and was out the door by five thirty.

I drove up to the restaurant, walked up to the hostess booth, and gave the name under the reservation. I was informed that some of my friends were already there and were seated at a table. I joined them as we waited for the rest of our party to arrive.

I looked around the restaurant. The atmosphere was stuffy and a little too posh for my taste, but today was Lily's birthday, and this was one of my best friend's favorite restaurants. So I put aside my grumbling thoughts and tried to enjoy the expensive dinner as best as I could.

The guest of honor finally arrived and so did the rest of my friends. We all gathered together and wished Lily a happy birthday. The food was delicious and the company was awesome. Before dessert, I excused myself to go the washroom.

On my way to the bathroom, I swore I saw a few ghosts from my past who I'd thought I'd never see again. As soon as I laid eyes on them, I felt like I was in high school again, which wasn't a good thing at all.

I couldn't believe my craptastic luck as I watched a familiar petite sprite of a woman with spiky black walk -no, more like dance- her way around the table, and that was when I saw him again.

Holy shit, it was Edward freaking Cullen, or as I would have called my first love.

Oh, of all things holy, it was simply cruel and unfair in how the past ten years had been actually very good to him. He looked even more handsome than he did when he was in high school, as if that was even possible, but I guessed it was. He lost all his boyish good looks, only to be replaced with a chisel, well defined face that glowed with elegance. He looked refined and distinguished. I never had seen any other man as beautiful as Edward Cullen, even in New York. It was almost heart breaking to turn my gaze away from him.

"Bella, earth to Bella…what are you looking at?" My friend's girlfriend, Cathy, nudged my side to get my attention as I stood in the middle of the floor, frozen in my lust-filled gaze. I immediately snapped back to reality.

"Huh?" I broke out of my haze. "Oh, I'm sorry about that, Cathy. I thought I saw someone I knew."

I quickly diverted my gaze and continued to walk straight into the washroom. I knew my cheeks were red on fire, and after taking several calming breaths in the bathroom stall, I managed to soothe my drumming heart. I splashed some cold water over my hot cheeks and fixed myself to look presentable again. Cathy carefully eyed me, worried over my strange behavior, but she didn't press me with questions to ease her curiosity.

We left the sanctity of the ladies' washroom and made our way back to our table. However, I was stopped on my way there, when someone cheerfully called out my name.

"Bella Swan, is that you?"

I turned to look to see who had called me, and there stood Alice Cullen, Edward's fraternal twin sister and the girl who I thought was once my best friend.

The Cullen twins and I grew up together since we were in diapers, but we didn't play together until we were in kindergarten. We were the best of friends all throughout elementary and middle school. Growing up together, the Cullen twins were the only people in Forks who didn't ridicule or tease me about my looks and heavy weight.

However, like all good things must come to an end, so did my friendship with Alice and Edward. It came to a crashing halt with the appearance of Jessica Stanley. I really hated her because she took away everything that I held dearly to my heart. Soon after she moved here in our first year in high school, Edward and Alice ditched me, and I found myself all alone lost in the crowd.

It was inevitable that Edward would take immediate notice of Jessica right away as she did with him. They had gotten together only a week after her arrival from LA, and I watched them fall madly in love with each other for the next four years of high school. Edward and Jessica were the "it" couple in our school, and everybody loved and worshipped the ground that they walked on.

Edward proposed to her on Christmas day in our senior year. They were married that following August before they both went off to Dartmouth together at the end of that month. I even went to their wedding, and let me tell I was so miserable that day.

I watched my life-long crush marry the love of his life, and it nearly destroyed me. Sure, deep down, I was totally being overdramatic about my feelings for Edward and that it was all one sided and rather pathetic on my part. But regardless, I still loved him wholeheartedly, and it was hard to let go of a dream, in which I knew in my innermost part would never let go. Edward Cullen was simply unattainable to me, and a part of me died from that realization. I left his wedding in shambles, completely devastated and depressed because I had to leave my feelings for him at the altar.

I cried myself to sleep that night, mourning over my broken heart. I wanted nothing more than to leave this God forsaken place and run away to New York as soon as possible. And as I did, I never once looked back again.

I never heard from or had seen Alice or Edward after the wedding. Now why would I? I had become nothing to them when they had meant everything to me. They threw me away like a chewed up piece of gum without a second thought, and so I left them behind as well. It was only because of my gossiping mother that I had random updates about the "fabulous life" of the Cullen family. My mother knew all the latest, juiciest tid-bits of information about everybody in the small, sleepy town of Forks, but strangely, I haven't heard any real updates or the latest gossip about what the Cullen family was up to for over five years now.

I was rudely ripped out of my memories when I felt someone slapped my arm. That someone was Cathy.

"Ow, Cathy, what the freak, man. That totally hurt," I whined while I pathetically rubbed my arm.

Cathy rolled her eyes at me in annoyance and jerked her head towards Alice's direction, thus pointing out that I was dozing off into space. I awkwardly rubbed the back of my neck as I watched Alice make her way to where I was standing.

"Uh, Cathy, you go on ahead; I'll just be a minute," I whispered through my teeth and proceeded to rearrange my face to greet my former friend with as much gusto as I could muster up.

"Alice Cullen, is that really you? What are doing here?" I asked. Fortunately, my voice had sounded awfully sincere. I was, after all, very surprise to see her here. The last I heard, she lived in Chicago, so I wondered why she was back in Seattle.

Another reason for my shock was the fact that she'd managed to recognize me in the first place. Normally, anyone I knew from my childhood couldn't identify me right away because I had changed so much over the years, both physically and characteristically.

I had struggled with my weight for my entire life. I had always been overweight and had accepted the fact that I will never ever be a size two. It wasn't until my third year in college, when I discovered that I had type-2 diabetes, which forced me to change my lifestyle and eating habits. My doctor told me if I didn't change, then I was going to die at very young age. So I had no choice but to reprioritize everything in my life. I went on a strict diet of no sugar, low salt, and low fat and was allowed to enjoy very few carbs. I joined a gym and exercised almost every day.

I was no longer Belly Swan, the fat girl rumored to be so big that she had to take up two seats on the bus to fit that big ass of hers. I ended up losing over a hundred pounds in a span of three years and had kept it off for five years now through diet and exercise. It sucked, at first, denying my body sugars and yummy foods that I loved to eat and force it to work out and exercise. I struggled a lot, but it got easier as time went by. And the results were well worth it. Now I was fit and healthy and managed to squeeze my body into a size eight. I still had to watch what I ate and how much I had, but that was simply a part of my life now.

However, even though I lost a lot weight, that didn't necessarily mean I was stick-skinny either. I was a simple size eight and weighed at a hundred and thirty pounds. I still had my round curves, and my stomach was flat, yet flabby, which I loved. Like I said before, I will never be a size two and didn't plan on being one ever, but I was a far cry from the size twenty that I was when I was younger. Now I was confident, successful, and looked great. I didn't shy away from people like I used to. No, I held my head up high proudly because I wasn't ashamed of who I was. This was why people from my past never recognized me and always did a double take upon seeing me.

Alice shot her arms wide open and pulled me into a tight hug. She seemed genuinely happy to see me again, but I wasn't really quite sure if I held the same sentiment as hers. We pulled apart, and Alice started dragging me away from Cathy, who I gave another apologetic look to. Thankfully, she nodded understandingly and walked back to our table by herself. I knew she would tell the others what had happened and that I'll be back in a few minutes.

Alice shot off a million questions at me, and I found myself lost and confused as she dragged over to her table to where her family had been sitting.

"Oh, Bella, it's so good to see you again, and you're back in Seattle. The last thing I heard was that you were living in New York, was it?" She spoke really fast.

"Yeah, well, things happened and here I am." My answer was vague because I was not going to spill my guts to her in the middle of a restaurant.

"Oh, well, we'll catch up soon," she said as she turned her focus the group in front of us. "Oh, by the way, it's Hale now," she proudly announced.

I looked at her with big eyes as she flashed me her wedding and engagement rings, which sparkled brightly in the light. I gave her a nice smile and stiffly gave her a congratulatory nod, telling her how happy I was for her.

"When did you get married?"

"Three years ago in Chicago," Alice gushed to me.

"Oh, three years ago, you say, and where was my invitation?" I cocked an accusing eyebrow.

I gleefully watched the panic filled her eyes. Of course I didn't expect to receive one. As if Alice Cullen would ever invite me to her wedding. I knew I was only invited to Edward's wedding because my parents were invited. I just wanted to see her sweat a little.

"I'm only playing with you, Alice." I gave out a dry, tight laugh.

"Oh, you're so bad, Isabella Swan," she gave me a playful giggle and smacked my arm in relief.

It took all my strength not to roll my eyes in annoyance over how easily she brushed off my "joke." In the short amount of time I've been with her, I didn't comprehend how much bitterness and resentment I still held against her. I thought I'd moved past it all, but apparently I didn't.

When we reached her table, she immediately introduced me to her husband.

"I want you to meet my husband, Jasper Hale."

I shook hands with Jasper's hand. He was a very handsome man, tall and suave-looking. His wispy, blond hair gave him a tough, sexy image that I knew drove women crazy. He gave me a charming smile along with the handshake, which made me blush pink from the attention.

As I shook hands with Jasper and Alice continued with her introductions. "And you remember my older brother, Emmett, and this is his wife, Rosalie. Rosalie is Jasper's twin sister."

Next I looked over towards a familiar looking gentleman. Emmett was two years older than Alice, Edward, and me, and I remembered him as the one of the biggest pranksters in Forks. Dad caught him several times and had to bring him home in the squad car. Emmett saw my dad as his greatest adversary, but he respected my old man. I didn't surprise me that my dad also held soft spot for Emmett as well.

He was still as big as I remembered him to be, or on second thought, he may be even bigger than he was the last time I saw him. The stunning woman sitting beside him was statuesque and looked very unapproachable. I couldn't help but feel the intimidation that this couple gave off, Emmett by his sheer size and Rosalie by her perfect beauty.

Putting my fears aside, I smiled warmly at them, which they also returned.

Then Alice turned to her twin brother. "Bella, you remember Edward, don't you?"

I painfully nodded my head once, but I couldn't force myself to look at him. Plus, I didn't know whether I should hug the man or shake his hand. I choose to do the latter. I slightly looked up to see his glorious face and nervously reached over to shake his hand. The moment our hands connected, a surge of electricity shocked my hand, and I immediately pulled it back to my side. I really shouldn't have been surprised over that spark Edward's touch gave me. It actually held some familiarity and nostalgia in a way because it's always been there when we were little. However, after fourteen years of almost being strangers, it was inevitable that it this feeling was foreign to me.

I had noticed the curious look that Edward gave me, as if he wondered that I was offended by his touch. That was really strange though because I thought I was always the only one to feel it, and I had still hoped that I was the only one who felt the shock. Let's just say that it would be incredibly awkward if there was still a spark between us. That was definitely a street that I didn't want to go down ever again.

I turned to the woman sitting next to him, expecting to see Jessica, but instead of seeing Jessica's curly, brown hair, I saw another woman with strawberry blond hair. She had a fake smile plastered across her face, along with venomous daggers shooting at me from her cold, blue eyes.

_Wait, she's not Jessica. _I found myself blinking dumbly, looking back and forth between her face and Edward's. _Where the heck is Jessica? Am I missing something here? _I was quite perplexed by the sight.

"Oh, and this is Tanya Richards, Edward's girlfriend," Alice said.

_Edward's girlfriend? Wait a second… Where the heck is his wife? _

I quickly glanced over to Alice with a puzzled look on my face. Alice's face only pleaded with me not to ask any questions about this and to let it go. So I politely did what she asked of me and pretended like everything was right in the world as it should be, but I was burning inside with curiosity to why Edward and Jessica were no longer together.

_Is he cheating on her? No, that's not possible. Plus, why would he bring his mistress around his family. Oh, then did they get a divorce? Wait if that's the case, when did it happen, and why the hell would they? I mean, when they were so happy together._

So many questions were running through my mind, but I kept my mouth shut because it wasn't my place to ask nor was it any of my business to know. I relaxed my furrowed brow and composed my face to appear calm and cool before I addressed Edward's girlfriend.

"Hello, Tanya, it's nice to meet you." I shook hands with her, and she gave me a cold smile that sent an eerie shiver down my spine.

"Same here, Bertha," she chided.

I heard Emmett snort and cover his mouth, but Rosalie elbowed his arm to shut up.

My eyes flared in anger as I watched Tanya's smug smirk inched across her lips. Her eyes looked me over patronizingly like she wasn't impressed by me at all. I had to bite down on my tongue as I tightly smiled back her.

"It's Bella," I said through my teeth, but I wanted nothing more than to slap her across the face.

"Sorry about that, I'm just horrible with name," Tanya chided as she rolled her eyes condescendingly at me.

My face contorted in disgust over her distasteful behavior. Was she like this to all strangers? I never even met the woman before, and she was being completely offensive and mean to me.

_Okay, can we say 'you're a bitch'? I wonder what's up her ass. For a pretty girl, she sure has an ugly attitude._

I gave an incredulous look back to Alice, who glared furiously at Tanya and then apologized to me. I waved it off like it was nothing because I was never going to see them again.

"I have to go back to my table, but it was good seeing you again. And it was nice meeting all of you as well." I graciously excused myself with a smile. I was about to walk away, when Alice reach over and tugged my arm to stop me.

"Wait, Bella, can I have your phone number? Maybe we can get together and catch up like old time." Alice sweetly asked me.

_Yeah, like old times my ass, _my thoughts grumbled bitterly.

I bit my bottom lip in hesitation, but then I saw the hopeful gleam in Alice's eyes. I couldn't be a bitch and turn her away.

"Sure, I guess," I said warily, "It's…" I rattled on my number as I watched her punch it into her phone's memory. Alice thanked me with another tight hug before I was off back to my friends.

When I got back to my table, everyone looked inquisitively at me for some answers.

"Are you okay, Bella? I heard you ran into someone. Were they anybody we know?" Lily asked me.

I shook my head side to side. "No, just some people I went to high school with."

That was enough said for my friends to know not to ask me anymore questions about it. They all knew that I had a hard time during high school but never knew the details behind it. I managed to suppress my high school memories to the back of my head.

A few minutes later, everyone was ready to leave. Ethan helped me with my coat, and we all walked out of the restaurant together.

The following day, I received a call from Alice, asking me to meet with her for some coffee. I reluctantly agreed and arranged for us to meet at the Starbucks near Benaroya Hall, where the Seattle Symphony Orchestra played and rehearsed.

After rehearsal, I quickly stashed my cello in the trunk of my car and rushed over to the coffee shop. When I walked in, I saw that Alice was already there, waiting at a table by the window with a cup of coffee. I took my time to order an Earl Grey tea and fix it with milk and honey.

When I finally settled down, we started talking about what we were doing with our lives for the past ten years. She told me about college, living in Chicago, and her fashion career, and the boutiques that she opened there. Alice gushed about Jasper, how they met, and their wedding.

It seemed like they led a perfectly happy life together, and so when I asked what brought them back to the West Coast, Alice told me about the job offer Jasper got to teach at the University of Washington in Seattle. He had just finished his PH.D in American History, specializing in the Civil War period, at the University of Chicago. She told me that it seemed like the perfect time to move back home to be closer to their families. It turned out that Jasper was originally from Seattle too.

I shared with her a little about my life in New York and the decisions that led me back to Seattle. When she asked me if I was seeing anybody, I told her that I was single, but I still didn't feel comfortable around her enough to share with her about my ex-fiancé, and all the gory details of my messed up love life. I kept the conversation on safe topics, so I talked mostly about the SSO and my career as a musician.

Finally, we got on the topic that I was dying to find more about: Edward and the allusive Jessica Cullen.

"Alice, I know it's none of my business to ask, but I can't help but wonder what happened between Edward and Jessica. Why aren't they together anymore? When did this happen?" I asked.

Sadness filled Alice's eyes, and it made me feel guilty for asking her in the first place. I remembered how close she was to Jessica, and it had to hurt to think about her again. So I decided that it wasn't my place to find out, so I wanted to take my question back.

"You know what, Alice, it's okay. You don't have to answer me. I shouldn't have asked in the first place. I'm sorry."

Alice shook her head. "No, it's alright. I'm sure you're curious after seeing Edward with Tanya, instead of Jessica last night. I mean you were at their wedding after all. It's just that it's not a pleasant memory to rehash."

I just sat there and couldn't say anything. She was right, and I was wrong for sticking my nose in where it didn't belong. Alice looked at me with a kind smile, but I could see the grief in them. I was about to say something when she spoke up.

"It's a long story, Bella, and it's doesn't have a good ending. Edward and Jessica split up because we found out she had been cheating on my brother and ended up having another man's baby." Okay, I didn't expect to have that come out of her mouth. My eyes bugged out of my sockets.

"No way," I gasped, completely taken aback. It was like a real life soap opera. Alice nodded her head angrily. My jaw dropped as I heard the rest of the story.

"We were all excited about Jessica's pregnancy and celebrated the birth of the newest member of our family, but when little Justin was born, we were in for the surprise of a lifetime. The baby had blond hair and blue eyes when neither of his parents had those traits, but we figured that he took after my father. But then we tried to find any other similarities that the baby might have to the Cullen genes, and we couldn't find any. We didn't think much of it because we figured that the baby must take after Jessica's side of the family, and a baby's features always constantly change as time goes by. Well, that was until they screened the baby's blood for all the tests that they do to all the babies after they're born. The shocker came when we discovered that the baby's blood was type B, but Edward was type A, and Jessica was O. So the baby wasn't Edward's…" Alice trailed off.

I continued to look at her in disbelief. "Then who's the father?" I had to ask. Curiosity took over, and I didn't care if I was being rude or too nosy. The mystery was way too juicy to worry about proper etiquette, and I simply had to find out.

"Mike Newton." Alice sighed loudly.

Wait, did she say Mike Newton? The arrogant douche bag that thought he was the shit only because he could throw a stupid football in the air…That Mike Newton?

We all went to high school together, and I knew for a fact that Mike always had a thing for Jessica. It was so obvious that he was always bitter towards Edward for stealing away any chance for him to get with her.

"Mike Newton?" I couldn't hide the skepticism or disgust in my tone of voice. My mind couldn't wrap itself around this shocking new development that I have stumbled upon. Alice began to look pissed off again, but then she managed to relax her face when she saw me flinch at her reaction.

"Sorry, I'm not mad at you for asking. It just pisses me off to think what that horrid bitch did to my brother and my family," she grumbled. I nodded my head understandingly.

"How long has she been cheating on Edward with Mike?"

"For a year before she got pregnant. She said that she had stopped seeing him immediately after she found out she was having a baby," Alice said bitterly.

My nose flared with horror and my eyes grew big with astonishment. Jessica Stanley-no, Cullen, wait, no, whatever her last name is now-was a complete moron. Ugh…What the hell was she thinking in the first place? Why the hell would she want to touch or be touch by such a sleazy douche like Mike Newton when she had a beautiful Greek god to fulfill all her wildest dreams? It just didn't make any sense to me, but I always knew that she was a complete idiot to begin with.

Alice saw my disbelieving face and nodded her head in agreement with me.

"When did Edward and Jessica file for divorce? How did the affair start to begin with?" I asked.

"They split up five years ago when the baby was born. Two years prior to that, Edward and Jessica were in Cambridge, Massachusetts because Edward had gotten into Harvard Law School after graduating his undergrad. From what I remember, she didn't have many friends around her because they had recently moved to the area, and she didn't go to the university there. But she did have one friend from Dartmouth who lived in Boston. So Jessica had decided to go visit that friend alone and must have run into Mike over there. From what I heard, Mike had found a job out in the east coast after he graduated from UDub. So you can only imagine with Edward being so busy with law school, it left Jessica with a lot of time at home by herself. She was lonely, and so she must have been thrilled to meet up with an old friend of hers. I only assume that she was bored as well because she had decided that sneaking around with Mike was worth the cheap thrill in jeopardizing her marriage."

Five years ago… right around the time the Cullens dropped off the radar in Forks. With so much family drama happening, it's no wonder that none of them wanted anyone from Forks to know. Ooo…the perfect family wasn't so perfect after all. This was definitely a big scandal and an embarrassing one at that as well.

Alice slammed her hand down on the table, yanking me out of my judgmental thoughts. "It makes me so mad when I think about how that bitch could lie to us and trick us like that. She wanted to raise that baby as Edward's, but knowing full well that it might not have been his in the first place."

_Go figure…Jessica was a gold-digger. _

Compassion and sympathy pushed away the bitterness and anger I held in my heart. They suffered a lot because they trusted in the deceitful, manipulative bitch. I reached over and squeezed her hand.

"Alice, I'm sorry that this happened to you and your family. I'm sure it must have devastated all of you to learn of her deceit and betrayal. How is Edward doing after all this had gone down?"

Alice hung her head a little. I could tell that she was worried about her twin brother. She let out another deep sigh.

"Well, like you guessed before, he was devastated by all of it. He was really looking forward to being a dad to the baby. When he found out that it wasn't even his and that the love of his life had been cheating on him with another man, it tore him apart. I don't think he's recovered from it yet," her voice shook as she tried to hold back her tears.

I felt a little sorry for Edward and all the pain and sorrow he must have gone through for the past five years.

Alice kept talking. "It took him three years to start dating again, but he hasn't been in a serious relationship since then. I don't think he really trusts women anymore. He basically dates and sleeps with random sluts and whores he meets at clubs and bars. They're not exactly the type you'd bring home to meet my parents though."

"What about Tanya?" I asked. Alice looked like she wanted to throw up.

"Ugh, I hate that woman. She's the biggest gold-digging bitch that you'll ever meet. We've known her ever since we were little. She's the youngest daughter of one of Dad's oldest college friends." Alice spoke with much distain as she rolled her eyes contemptuously at the thought of the bitch.

"Oh, really? How come I never met her before when we were little?"

"Tanya grew up in Denali, Alaska, because her dad had his practice up there. She moved down to Seattle three years ago, two years after Edward filed for his divorce. It was her life's mission to marry Edward ever since we were five years old. I don't even want to tell you how upset she was when he got married right after high school. She tried everything to sabotage his wedding to Jessica. After she moved down to Seattle, she put her battle plans and strategies into action to seduce and reel in my brother. It was a horrific sight to see. I mean, that girl is relentless and doesn't understand the meaning of the word 'no'. It was disturbingly gross to watch, and it got worse to the point where it was rather pathetic because you could clearly see the desperation in her actions and words.

"And don't get me even started on how worse it got when Edward finally gave in, and they started seeing each other. Now she's going around, bragging that Edward will probably put a ring on her finger by the end of this summer, but they've only started dating a month ago. And I don't think that will ever happen. They don't seem happy together or good for each other for that matter. I know for a fact that Edward is seeing other women on the side. He will never commit to her, and Tanya is just too self-centered and stuck up to be the woman to change his heart and bring back the old Edward. I honestly think he's using her for only sex, but that's purely my own opinion."

I wanted to throw up, completely turned off by what I had just heard about Edward and his transformation over the years. It sounded like he had become this womanizing jerk, and it was all thanks to that bitch, Jessica, and her adulterous ass.

In a sad way, I actually understood what he was going through and sympathized with him. Love could really mess someone up like that. It did to me when Derek, my ex, left me for Sheryl, his supposed soul-mate. The only difference was I closed myself off to men because I could no longer trust them enough to let my defenses down and let them in. Edward, on the other hand, turned into a man-whore and had an endless string of shallow relationships based on sex. But if you thought about it, we were really no different from each other. The bottom line was that both of us didn't want to get hurt again. We merely chose different ways to cope with it.

I squeezed Alice's hand again to get her attention. She looked up at me with sullen eyes.

"How are you doing with all this, Alice? I know that Jessica was your best friend, and it must have hurt badly for you too when she betrayed you with all her lies."

Alice smiled warmly at me. She gently patted my hand with thanks.

"It hurts and still does. I lost my best friend that day. I don't think I can ever forgive her for that, Bella. I just can't." She looked as if she wanted to cry.

I sighed a little to myself. I knew Alice was also a victim in all this as well and betrayed by someone precious to her. However, I was human too. I could feel the bitter part of me rejoiced after hearing this development because it was like sweet revenge for all the heartache she gave me when she left me behind for the same heartless, deceptive bitch. I wanted to believe they all got what they deserved for hurting me all those years ago. But then again, I had to rebuke myself for these horrible thoughts. It was wrong of me to think this way because nobody deserved to go through all that misery or to be treated in that way.

"I'm sorry that this happened to you, Edward, and your family." I tried to comfort her the best way that I could, but I honestly had no clue what to say or what I could do to ease her pain. I also wondered if I really wanted to in the first place. I moved to sit next to her, hugging Alice as she cried.

After a few minutes, she dried her tears and thanked me for being so patient with her while she had her nervous breakdown. I chuckled uncomfortably and told her that it was cool. We finished our coffee and left the coffee shop.

I honestly didn't expect to hear from Alice after that day we had coffee, but I was surprisingly wrong. Over the month, I had gotten together with her once more along with Jasper, Rose, and Emmett too, but I still hadn't seen Edward though since that night at the restaurant. Honestly, I held a little hope in seeing him again, but then I would stomp that feeling away. It was probably for the best that I didn't see him again because I couldn't trust myself when it came to my first love. I didn't want to hate myself for being tempted with the chance to spurn this twisted infatuation I had over him again. It had taken me over seven years to move past my painful one-sided crush. I didn't trust myself enough to believe that I could do it all over it again.

Well, that was all going to hell because I found myself standing on Alice's front porch on a clear, sunny Saturday afternoon. They were throwing an outside barbeque as their housewarming party for their new home, and Alice invited me to come to. I wasn't so sure if I should go or if I even wanted to go. Needless to say, Alice convinced me and made me promise that I attend her party. So then I ended up making a simple pasta salad for the BBQ and had bought them a bottle of laundry detergent as a housewarming gift. It was a Korean custom that Ethan and Ian, two of my closest friends, had taught me. It had something to do with wishing the new homeowners much good fortune and blessings to their new house.

I rang the doorbell and Alice answered it. When I handed her the bottle of liquid laundry detergent, she gave me a funny look, which made me laugh.

"What's with the laundry detergent, Bella?"

"It's an old Korean tradition. Whenever someone moves into a new home, you buy them soap, which signifies that you wish them as much luck and good blessings in their new home as there are many bubbles that will come out from the detergent," I explained. Alice laughed at my thoughtful gift.

"I didn't know you were into practicing Korean traditions. Where did you learn this from?" she asked.

"Well, I have some really close friends that come from a traditional Korean household. They bought me laundry detergent too when I moved into my apartment last year."

Alice thanked me again and then guided me back into their patio to join the party.

Of course, I didn't know anybody besides for the Cullens, so I tried to mingle as best as I could, but I stayed close to the people I mostly knew already. I walked over to Emmett and Jasper, who were busy stoking the coals on the grill.

"Hey, there, Bella," Emmett greeted me with a big bear hug. I gasped for air as he crushed me in his arms. Thankfully, Rosalie came and save me.

"You're crushing her, you big oaf." She slapped his arm to release me. I liked this woman more with each passing moment.

"Thanks, Rosalie. You just saved my life." I gasped and panted for air. Emmett dismissed at my over dramatic antics with a hearty laugh, and Rosalie patted my back.

"Any time, Bella. If this big lug bothers you again, just come and find me." She winked at me and I laughed out loud.

"Thanks, I'll definitely take you up on that offer." I looked over to Jasper who was busy flipping burgers. "Hi, Jasper, it's good to see you again." We shook hands.

"It's a pleasure, Bella." He had a slight drawl in his speech. "I heard about the laundry detergent gift you bought for us. Alice explained it to me. Thanks, you saved me a trip to the market because we just ran out of some yesterday." He laughed.

"I hear ya. When I got detergent as a housewarming gift, I didn't need to buy it for a year. I think I still have some of it left in my apartment." We both laughed, but Rose and Emmett looked puzzled by our conversation. I explained to them what we were laughing about, and they thought it was thoughtful gift as well.

Soon Esme and Carlisle had arrived along with Edward and Tanya about thirty minutes after I did. Esme spotted me immediately and wrapped me in a warm embrace.

"Bella Swan, is that you, dear? Oh, you look absolutely beautiful."

I smiled as I hugged her tightly back. "It's so good to see you too, Esme. How are you doing?"

"Good, I'm doing really well. I just spoke to your mother awhile back while I was visiting Forks, and she told me that you moved back to Seattle and about the SSO. I actually wanted to tell you that I went to some of your performances. You play marvelously, Bella." I blushed at her compliments, but quickly looked back up to her.

"If you came to some of my performances, why didn't let me know. I would have loved to see you afterwards."

"Oh, I tried but you looked so busy that I didn't want to bother you. I was just thrilled to see you up there playing." Then Carlisle walked up behind Esme and greeted me.

"Hello, Bella. It's good to see you again." He had one arm around his wife and the other was out for me to shake, which I did.

"It's really great to see you too, Carlisle. How are you doing, sir?" I smiled at the handsome man. I could see a lot of Edward in him. They both were so handsome, and I knew Edward was going to age just as well as his father did.

"I'm doing well. I'm starting to cut back on my hours at the hospital. I'm getting ready for retirement after all."

"Really? You're too young to retire, Carlisle." I teased. It was true though. He was no more than 50 years old but looked like he was still in this late 30's or early 40's. Esme also looked more like Emmett's older sister than his mother.

"Oh, you'd better stop teasing this old man before it goes straight to his head," Esme playfully scolded me as she wrapped her arm around her husband and patted his chest with the other. I smiled mischievously at them, who both laughed heartily at me.

"It's really good to see you again, Bella. It's been so long."

"I know, but I haven't been back in the west coast since high school. I never really have time off to go and visit my folks," I said forlornly. I felt terrible that I had only seen my parents a handful of times since I moved back west. Esme nodded understandingly.

"I understand, dear. They must miss you terribly, but they are very proud of you. Well, even though you can't see your parents that often, you must come visit me now that we all live here in Seattle." She patted my arm gingerly.

I smiled politely at them, not wanting to give her an answer. I couldn't help but to wonder why I'd go and visit them. I wasn't really as close to any of her children anymore. Maybe she thought that I was now that Alice and I were getting reacquainted with each other again.

I nodded my head pleasantly when I notice Edward walking over in our direction with Tanya following closely behind him. She was giving me the dirtiest look, which was starting to really piss me off. I didn't understand why she held so much animosity towards me. I didn't even know woman nor did I do anything wrong against her to warrant such hostility in the first place. I simply couldn't understand what her deal was.

The next thing I knew, Edward was only a foot away from me, looking intently at me. It was actually quite unnerving. My eyes were wide with not knowing how to react to his gaze.

"Hello, Bella," he said with the most sensual, alluring voice.

_I think I just came._

I haven't heard Edward's voice in ten years. We haven't spoken a word to each other that night at the restaurant. He only gave me a simple head nod and that was it. So you could imagine how I had felt when I heard the voice of a man I was so infatuated with for most of my childhood.

He looked at me attentively like he was waiting for me to say something, but I, being the dork that I was, stood there with my mouth gaped open wide.

_Oh, my God, I think I really did come._

I shook my head out of my stupor. I needed to say something quick, so I didn't look like a complete idiot.

"Um, hi," I squeaked.

_Oh, my God, just shoot me now. _

I really wanted the earth to open up and swallow me whole. I quickly looked around and saw Rosalie and Emmett were at the grill with all the meat, which where I wanted to be.

"Um, if you'll excuse me, I think I'll go help Emmett and Rose, um, over there." I gave Esme and Carlisle as small smile, blinked twice at Edward, and hustled my butt out of one of the most awkward moments in my entire life.

I practically ran to stand by Rosalie and Emmett. Emmett was trying to flip a burger in the air and catching with the spatula. Of course, he missed and grumbled frustrated at meat patties that fell haphazardly back onto the grill.

I couldn't help but laugh at him. It was hilarious to watch him curse like a sailor at a piece of meat. We were having such a good time together that I didn't notice exactly when Edward and Tanya joined our little group.

"Emmett, what are you doing?" He laughed his older brother. My body immediately tensed with trepidation.

_Man, now I have to run away again. Why won't you just stay away from me?_ I grumbled in my head.

Rosalie eyed me carefully, noticing my change in demeanor. She smiled wickedly at me with a sly wink.

What the heck was she up to? I did not like that evil gleam in her eye.

"So, Bella, do you want to try?" she asked.

"I don't know about that, Rosalie. I don't want to take away Emmett's fun." I raised my hands in front of me, trying to back away from the situation.

"Oh, come on, Bella. It's fun and easier than it looks." Rosalie smiled wickedly at me like she knew I was going to run. Now how the heck was I going to run away from Edward?

"Fine, why not." I gave Rosalie the stink eye as I passed her and approached Emmett, who handed me his spatula.

I grabbed the handle with both hands and scooped up a meat patty. With the flick of my wrist, the patty flipped in the air and landed back on the flat metal hand of the spatula. I gasped loudly and then squealed with joy.

"Oh, my gosh, I caught it! Look, I caught it. Did you see me? Did you see it?" I delighted in my little success.

I heard giggles and laughter but most of all, I saw Emmett pouting at me like a little kid.

"Ah, that's beginner's luck," he whined.

So I flipped the patty again and caught it with the spatula.

"Beginner's luck, you say? I'd like to see you do any better," I taunted him.

Emmett looked determined to flip and catch a damn patty if his life depended on it. He took the spatula from me with a stubborn face.

We all laughed when he threw it too high and the platy flopped down onto the ground.

_Poor Emmett_.

My eyes subconsciously darted toward Edward, and I saw that he was looking at me too. There was something about his eyes that captured me. They held something there that I couldn't quite put my finger on, and it freaked me out a little bit. I quickly diverted my eyes away from his gaze and looked everywhere else but at Edward.

All of a sudden, I felt really uncomfortable and remembered what I was about to do right before I was distracted by the blasted meat patty.

_O, God, I need to make my escape, but how?_

I looked at my watch and calculated that I had been here for over an hour. I figured that I was here long enough and decided to make a lame ass excuse to leave.

_Okay, now what's going to be my excuse? _ I really had no clue.

_Think, Bella, think. Okay, you're a musician. Just say that you have an event to do. _

_No, that won't work because then I would have already told Alice about it. _

_Okay, then just say that you have rehearsal. _

_Oh, yeah, like that sounds legit. Rehearsal on a Saturday night, come on. Nobody practices on a Saturday night. _

_Ugh, work with me, will you? What can you use then? Oh, I know. A date, you can tell them that you have a date tonight. _

_Okay, say that they do believe this, then what do I say when they ask why I didn't bring him to the party. _

_Just tell them that it's still new and too early to bring him here. When you see them again, you can tell them you broke it off because there wasn't anything there. _

_But I hate lying though. _

_It's not lying unless you get caught. Do you want to get out of here? _

_Yes. _

_Then tell the stupid lie and get over it. _

_Okay, geez, I never knew I could be so pushy. _

_Ha, ha, cute. Now go and tell them you have a date and make your escape for goodness sake. _

I swallowed hard and cleared my throat. I really hated lying but desperate times called for desperate measures. Alice and Jasper had already joined our little group and everyone was looking at me.

"Um, I'm sorry to do this, but I have to get going now. Sorry, Alice, but I wasn't planning on staying too long," I apologized.

"Why are you leaving so soon, Bella? You just got here and we're about to eat." Alice frowned sadly at me. This was why I hated to lie, but I needed to get away from Edward. It was just too much to be around him.

"I'm really sorry, but I have a date later tonight and need to go home and get ready for it," I said softly. Nervously, I tucked in a lock of my hair behind my ear.

"Really, who are you going out with?" Rosalie asked. Damn it, I knew this would happen.

"Um, he's a guy that I had just started seeing. It's pretty new."

"Why didn't you bring him to our party?" Alice asked.

"Like I said before, it's pretty new and a little early to come together to parties as a couple." I nervously smiled.

"What time's your date?" Emmett asked.

I quickly looked at my watch. It was four-thirty-five, so I decided to say at six. "Six o'clock."

"Why doesn't he just pick you up here? Then you can stay a little longer and we'd get to meet him." Edward suggested. My eyes grew wide with panic, and my ears rang with Alice and Rosalie's loud cheers. I mentally started to hyperventilate as terror filled my thoughts.

_Why the heck did he say that for? Crap, now what do I do now? Who I am I going to call to pretend to be my date?_

I immediately thought of Ethan. He would surely come and bail me out of this gigantic pickle. Plus, he owed me a huge favor for making a gourmet dinner for him and his girlfriend last month for their six month anniversary.

_Please be free tonight, Ethan, please for the love of God, be free. Shoot, but what if he's out with Lia tonight? I'd better give him a call. If not, I'll call Ian instead. Cathy will understand…I hope._

"Uh, I need to call him first." I backed away from our group. "I'll be right back." I ran into the house to retrieve my purse.

I ran into an empty room and quickly dialed Ethan's number. Thankfully, he picked up on the second ring.

"Hey, Bells." He chirped.

"Hey, Ethan, are you busy tonight, or do you have plans with Amelia later on?" I whispered, too afraid that someone was listening outside the door.

"Nope, I don't have anything important going on tonight. Lia's working until nine o'clock, so I thought about getting some movies and vegging out in front of the TV all night. Do you want to come over and chill?" _Oh, thank you, God! _ "And why are you whispering, Bells?" he hissed into the phone.

"Why am I whispering? It's a long story, Ethan, and I don't really have the time to tell you the whole thing. All you need to know is that I'm cashing in my favor from last month. Oh, God, this is so embarrassing." I mumbled as I fisted a handful of my hair.

"Whoa, Bells, you're not making any sense here. Calm down and tell me what's going on."

"Okay, so remember when I told you about Alice, Edward, and the Cullens."

"Yeah, like how you had a humungous crush on that Edward guy." Ethan joked with me. I rolled my eyes to the back of my head.

"Now's not time for teasing, Ethan," I warned him, "Anyways, I'm at a housewarming party that Alice is throwing and Edward's here. I'm feeling trapped and uncomfortable around him and the rest of the Cullens for that matter, so I made up a bogus lie about having a date tonight. When they asked me questions about this mystery guy and suggested that he come and join the party, I couldn't exactly say no. So I panicked and thought of you. Now, I'm in a random room, calling you, and begging you to come and bail me out of this." I almost cried into the phone.

"I don't know about this, Bells. It's not like you to lie to people, especially to your friends."

"I know, Ethan, but I'm not even sure if I'd call them my friends exactly. They're more like old acquaintances."

"Why would you say that?"

I let out a sad sigh because that meant digging up the past that I spent the past ten years burying deep into its grave.

"I'll explain everything to you later, but right now I really need your help. I can't be around the these people without making a fool of myself or reverting back to what I felt like in high school. You don't understand what I've been through because of Alice and Edward." I sighed into the phone.

"Ah, Bells, when you say it like that, I can't say no to you," he whined.

"So you're going to do it?"

"Yeah, you know I will."

"Thanks, Ethan. I promise tonight I'll make the most spectacular dinner ever, and we'll watch movies together at my place."

"Sounds like a good plan to me. So what's our story?'

"Huh? What story?" Then it clicked. "Oh, _our story_. I didn't really think of that." I snorted.

I heard Ethan's frustrated sigh. "Bells, if you're going to lie, you need to think of a good back story for it to work," he scolded me.

"You're right. Um, let's see now. Okay, we'll just say we've been friends ever since New York, which is true, and then decided to try to see if this could turn into something more serious, which will be the lie."

"That sounds good enough for me. Oh, do I get to squeeze your ass and call you 'babe'?" He had the nerve to ask me that all the while laughing so loudly into the phone that I had to pull it away from my ear from its shrill volume.

I rolled my eyes and scoffed. "Sure, Ethan, you can, but then you'll be the one who has to deal with Lia's wrath after I tell her," I hissed into the phone.

"Okay, fine…" He huffed, "Text me their address and directions and I'll be there within the hour. Have your cell on you, in case I get lost."

"Okay, Ethan. Consider us even after you do this for me."

"Cool. See you soon."

"Bye," I said.

I shoved my cell phone in my pocket and made my way back to the backyard, where everyone was waiting for me.

"Alice, can I have your address? I need to text Ethan it and directions to get here."

"Sure, so does that mean your date's coming here?" I nodded my head. "Oh!" Alice squealed and clapped her hands happily.

I gave a nervous chuckle and sent Ethan the address and directions. The hour seemed to pass by slowly. I made sure that I stayed far away from Edward, but that didn't stop me from watching him from afar. I noticed how Tanya had desperately clung to his side the whole hour. She acted like they were going to pick out china patterns soon. It was a disgusting sight to see and rather pathetic too.

I kept looking at my phone every ten minutes, waiting for Ethan's call. Finally, it rang.

"Hello, Ethan?"

"Hey, Bells, I'm here."

"Oh, okay. I'll meet you out in front," I said while rushing through the house.

I opened the front door and saw Ethan making his up the steps. I couldn't help it, but I was really happy to see him. I ran into his arms with the biggest smile on my face and wrapped my arms tightly around him.

"You don't know how happy I am to see you right now." Then I saw him carry a bottle of laundry detergent with him, which made me laugh even more.

"Hey, I guess great minds think alike." I pointed at the detergent.

"Ah, I couldn't come empty handed, now can I? That'd be rude. Did you bring laundry soap as a gift as well?" Ethan smirked as I nodded my head.

"Oh, you make me so proud." Ethan wiped a nonexistent tear away from his eye. I let out a boisterous laugh and hurled my arms around him for another big hug.

"Again, I'm sorry, Ethan, for putting you through this. Does Lia know about it?" I whispered into his ear.

"Oh, yeah, do you think I would do this without telling her. By the way, she thought it was hilarious and told me to tell you to milk this lie for all its worth. Oh, and she wants you to call her later. I think she said something about you owing her for lending me out for the evening." He winked at me.

"Oh, so she's your pimp now," I laughed and so did Ethan, "Is she coming over to hang with us later?"

"Yeah, after her shift at hospital is over."

I just nodded my head. Amelia was a nurse at Seattle Children's Hospital. I met Lia nine months ago after taking Jeffrey for a check-up and thought she would be perfect for Ethan. I set them up three months later, and they had been together ever since.

"Uh, Bells, we have an audience," Ethan whispered into my ear. We were still hugging each other, and it must have looked like we were sharing a very intimate moment with each other.

We pulled apart, and I saw Alice and Rosalie waiting for us at the door. They both sported a goofy grin and glassy eyes as they fawned over Ethan and my PDA. I rolled my eyes at them and pulled Ethan into the house.

"Um, Alice, Rosalie, this is Ethan Kim. Ethan, this is our hostess, Alice Hale, and her sister-in-law, Rosalie Cullen."

"Hi, it's nice to meet you both. Oh, and this is a housewarming gift." Ethan handed her the laundry detergent.

"Oh, thank you so much. You know, Bella gave us some as a gift as well." Alice put two and two together. "Were you the one that taught her this Korean tradition?"

Ethan nodded and smiled. We walked out into the backyard and immediately all eyes were on us. I held tightly to Ethan's hands and tugged him over to where Emmett and Jasper were standing.

Ethan leaned into my ear and whispered, "Relax and let's just have fun with this." He smiled and winked at me, which I returned as well. But I instantly tensed up when Edward, his parents, and Tanya joined our group. They all looked at me expectantly, and I took that as my cue to make introductions.

"Um, I guess that I should introduce everybody. Uh, Ethan, I want you to meet Emmett Cullen, Rosalie's husband; Jasper Hale, Alice's husband; Carlisle and Esme Cullen, Alice's parents; and Edward Cullen and his girlfriend, Tanya Richards. Everybody, this is Ethan Kim." It felt a little strange to call him my boyfriend but calling him my friend would have been too weak of a title, so I opted not to say anything.

_Oh, God, this is why I hate to lie._

"So how did you two meet?" Esme asked.

I gave a nervous laugh with tension. Ethan's hand squeezed and massaged the back of my neck to help me relax. I leaned into him and wrapped my arm around his waist.

My stupid eyes darted back towards Edward, and I couldn't help but notice that he looked upset for some reason. Maybe he had enough of Tanya's annoying and clingy behavior. I knew that that would make me really cranky.

"We met in New York. Ethan and I both went to Julliard together. Ethan was a musical theory major while I was in cello. We were both in musical composition together, which lead to us instantly becoming good friends," I summarized our story of how we first met.

"Recently, we decided to try and see if we could be more. Isn't that right, Bells?" Ethan added as he made fake googlely eyes at me. He was really laying it on thick. I had to bite down on my bottom lip to stifle my laughter and gave him a subtle yet playful warning look, which he completely ignored.

"Yeah, well, I'm kind of having second thoughts about that now," I teased. Ethan pouted and everyone laughed.

"Oh, you guys are so cute together, aren't they, Edward?" Tanya's snide voice hissed through the air. "So, what do you do, Ethan?"

"I'm the music teacher at Shorecrest High School, but I'd say I'm a musician at heart."

"Yeah, Ethan plays in a band. They're called Relative Pitch. They're really good too." I bragged.

"Oh, I've heard of them. That's why you look so familiar. I saw you guys play a set at the Note two months ago. You're the lead guitarist and main vocal."

"Yeah, I am." Ethan blushed.

"I really like your songs. When and where are you playing next?" Alice asked.

"Uh, we're scheduled to play at High Dive in two weeks."

"We should all go," Alice pitched in.

_Bad idea, really bad idea!_ My mind screamed. I had to get us out of here fast before we made plans to double or triple date with each other.

"Um, okay then." I gave a panic ridden smile. "I think it's time for us to get going now. Um, Alice, thank you for inviting us over. I had fun." I hugged all ladies, except for Tanya, and waved goodbye to the guys. Ethan said his goodbyes too, and then we were both out of the door.

When I was in the safety of my car, I let out a deafening scream as I drove home. Panic and guilt filled my thoughts.

_Oh, my God, what am I going to do now? I can't keep asking Ethan to pretend to be my boyfriend. It's not fair to him or Lia. Crap, they want to go to one of his shows though. What the heck am I going to say now?_

_Just tell them that you both decided that it would better to remain as friends, or you can always tell them the truth._

_No, I can't do that. I'll look like a big loser._

_Well, honesty is always the best policy, Bella, but if you don't want to follow that, then do whatever you want._

I pulled into my parking spot and headed into my apartment. It was small; I couldn't fit too many people over, but it was cozy and all mine. I rented it because the landlord had all the apartments soundproofed, which meant that I could practice without disturbing my neighbors. This was a big plus for me.

While Ethan set up the movie, I whipped us up a quick, yet tasty supper. I was famished because my nerves didn't allow me to eat anything at the party. I made sure I made enough for Ethan, Lia, and myself.

We were about halfway through the movie when the doorbell rang. Ethan buzzed in Lia and I warmed up her supper for her.

"Thanks, Bella, it smells wonderful." She sniffed her plate. "Now you have some explaining to do, girl."

I cocked an eyebrow at her. "What do you mean?"

Amelia and Ethan both rolled their eyes at me. "You know what she's talking about Bells. Now why did you need me to play your pho-boyfriend?" Ethan asked, grabbing another garlic breadstick.

I let out a defeated sigh; my shoulder slumped down sadly.

"If you must know, it's kind of long story," I mumbled glumly.

"Come on, Bells, I'm your best friend. Lia and I both love you and we want to help you. But in order to do that, we need to know what the heck is going on," Ethan gently said to me.

"Yeah, Bella, please tell us, so we have a better idea how to help you," Lia pleaded with me.

I gave in. "Okay, so I've known the Cullen all my life back in Forks. They were like the perfect family. Dr. Carlisle Cullen was the lead doctor at the hospital and their mother, Esme, was a stay-at-home mom. They had three kids; Emmett, Edward, and Alice. Edward and Alice were fraternal twins and were my age. Emmett was two years older than us. Ever since we were little, we did everything together. We were in the same playgroups and classrooms all throughout elementary and middle school. They were my best friends…my only friends. Well, in the sixth grade, I realized that my feelings for Edward were more than a simple, little crush. My feelings for him ran deep, so deep that I think I fell in love with him before I even knew what love was. Edward was kind and good to me. He never made fun of me about my weight or ditched me like the other mean kids did to me. Alice was the same way too. Growing up, they were the most important people in my life. I didn't feel alone or sad with them by my side.

"But everything changed when Jessica Stanley moved to Forks in our freshmen year. She was everything that I wasn't: gorgeous, fun, and popular. Compared to her, I was nobody of real importance. She moved in and I simply was cast aside. Alice became her best friend, and Edward fell madly in love with Jessica. Eventually, Alice and Edward had forgotten me and stopped hanging around me until I no longer had any friends."

A tear rolled down my cheek. I tried to wipe it away before Ethan or Lia saw, but I was too late. Lia wrapped her arm around me in a side hug, and Ethan looked downright pissed.

"I became known as Belly Swan, the big, fat kid at school. Everybody made fun of me and picked on me, even Alice and Edward. At first, I couldn't believe that the very two people, I loved dearly, had betrayed me for those who only a half a year ago they fought against while defending me. I won't even tell you how devastated I was each time that happened. After that, I was always by myself and all I had was my cello. Music was my only friend during high school." I smiled wryly to myself.

"But now if I think about it more, I'm actually sort of grateful for them tossing me aside the way that they did because if I wasn't alone all the time, I would have never found solace in my music, which meant I may have never got into Julliard, and I would have never met you and Lily." I shrugged my shoulders to ease the mood.

"What a bitch and an asshole! How could they do that to you? No wonder you didn't feel comfortable to be there by yourself. And to think I was actually nice to those shit-eating ass holes," Ethan fumed. He was clearly upset for me.

"Well, actually that wasn't why I wanted to leave so badly," I quipped.

Ethan and Lia looked at me, waiting for me to further explain.

"Well, as I told you before, I had a huge crush on Edward, and my feelings for him weren't shallow and superficial. I was deeply in love with him all throughout my childhood and even a few years in college."

Ethan's eyes went wide when I told them this and wanted to say something, but I wouldn't let him. I continued talking.

"I know what you're thinking, but you didn't know him the way I did. When we were little, Edward was the kindest boy I'd ever known. He made me feel normal and good about myself, even when everyone else told me that I was too different and ugly to ever be considered as pretty. But it wasn't just that. He was really special and was so much more than he let on. Did you know he was the reason I fell in love with music? He plays the piano…well he did when we were little anyways. He would actually talk to me through music. Each melody he played revealed his feelings, emotions, or whatever was going through his mind and heart. I couldn't tell you all the wonderful times we had playing on his piano together or with me accompanying him with my cello. The more we played, the more I fell in love with music and the more I fell in love with Edward. I had only hoped that one day he could love me as much as I loved him."

I sighed and downed at my hands that were resting on my lap.

"Well, that dream never came true because Edward only had eyes for Jessica. He had even proposed to her during Christmas break in our senior year. They got married the following summer after graduation, so they could go off to college together. I actually went to their wedding…and it nearly killed me.

"I had to watch the man, who I was deeply in love with for such a long time, marry someone else. I saw his face light up with happiness as he watched his bride join him at the altar. It nearly ripped my heart in two, knowing that he will never look at me in the same way, but it didn't stop me from wishing it. The worst part was when the reality that my dream will never come had hit me like a ton of bricks. That truth alone felt like someone had strangled all the life out of me. I cried right there during the vows, and luckily, people misunderstood it for tears over how beautiful and romantic the ceremony was. But I was really mourning over my broken heart and trying to force myself to leave all my feelings for Edward at the altar because it was better than me still pining after him as he went on to live his life happily ever after with his new bride."

I looked up at my friends and saw sympathy in their eyes.

"Well, it took a long time to get over Edward, and I eventually did. I thought that I did it with Derek, but we all know how that ended."

I chuckled at the irony of the situation. The same thing happened with me and Derek that happened with Edward, except Derek had once actually loved me in return. In a way, Derek's betrayal was far worse than Edward's, but now I was getting into semantics.

"I don't know, but after seeing Edward and Alice again, I felt myself reverting back to who I was ten years ago. I felt the infatuation, loneliness, and depression slowly creeping its way back into my heart, but I'm not that girl anymore, and I didn't like that they, especially Edward, reminded me of her whenever I was around him. And maybe that's why I lied and wanted to escape that party so badly." I confided my epiphany to my friends.

"I'm so sorry that you had to go through all that, Bella," Ethan whispered into my ear as he and Lia engulfed me in a tight bear hug. "You have us now. And right at this moment, I want nothing more than to go back there and beat the crap out of each and every one of them for all the crap they put you through." Ethan paused for a minute before he spoke again. "Didn't you say that Edward married that girl, Jessica?" I nodded my head. "Well, at the party, you introduced me to…um…what was that blonde's name again? Tory, no, Tammy, no, Tanya? Yeah, Tanya was her name. You introduced me to Tanya as Edward's girlfriend. What happened to Jessica?" Ethan was very perceptive sometimes that it was scary.

"Well…" I turned towards them, getting ready to share all the juicy gossip I had collected from Alice. "It turns out that Jessica cheated on Edward six or seven years ago. She had year-long fling with Mike Newton, this douche bag quarterback that we all went to high school with. She got pregnant but wasn't sure if it was his or Edward's. Either way she was going to pass the kid off as Edward's baby because Edward's family's loaded. I'm talking old money here and lots of it." I gave them an exaggerated "Uh-huh, you know it" look with a curt nod. Both Lia and Ethan's mouth gaped open in shock.

I continued. "Anyways, after the kid was born, I guess the doctors had to screen the blood for some test." Lia nodded her head knowingly. "Well, the baby's blood didn't match with Edward's and all hell broke loose," I explained.

"How?" Lia asked.

"Well, the baby has type B blood; Edward's blood type is A; and Jessica's is type O. And as you all know, according to Mendel's law, if the baby was Edward's, then it should have type A or type O. There is no way that it can have type B and be Edward's kid at the same time. Let's just say, Jessica had to come forward with the truth. The scandalous bitch confessed to her tawdry affair and admitted that she actually was going raise him as Edward's child, never planning to tell any of them the truth about the affair or paternity of the baby. I'm not sure if Newton knew that the baby was his in the first place either, or if he encouraged her to lie to everyone about the paternity of the child. I bet she was even going to continue her side activities with Newton as long as she could while mooching off the Cullen's money for the rest of her life."

"So they got a divorce?" Lia asked.

"Yup, Alice told me that Jessica tried to go after Edward's trust fund and inheritance, but Edward's parents made her sign a pre-nup before they got married, and there was an infidelity clause. She gets nothing if she's caught cheating on Edward. The ironic part of all this was that Jessica didn't know that she signed one. She tried to claim that his parents conned her into signing it under false pretenses, but the judge didn't buy it. The bitch got nothing from the marriage and no alimony." I had to laugh at this twisted turn of events. "Well, it turns out that Jessica really did a number on Edward though, and I guess now he turned into some sort of philandering slut and hasn't been in a serious relationship ever since his divorce."

Lia and Ethan looked completely astonished. "It's like a really bad soap opera." Lia commented.

"I know. I thought the same exact thing when I first heard it from Alice's mouth." I laughed.

"I can't believe that all happened, but it serves them right after treating you so badly. It's called karma, and they got what they deserved. I still can't believe you're so chummy with them after all the crap they put you through. If I were you, I would never talk to them again." Lia shook her head.

She had a good point. I couldn't understand how easily I allowed Alice back into my life after she dismissed me so quickly from hers when we were younger.

"I know I can't believe it myself. If I was the girl that I was ten years ago, I would have gladly welcomed them back into my life with open arms, but as of right at this moment, I'm not so sure if I want them back in my life from now on. I'm definitely skeptical in trusting them again, but you never know. Maybe they've changed and saw the errors of their ways…" I paused for a moment and thought about the Cullens some more. "On second thought, maybe they haven't. So perhaps it would be better for me to stay away from them. But can I? Now that I think about it, Alice calls me almost every day. I know she wants to be friends with me again, and she did mention that she saw us as BFF's again, whatever that means. But the more that I think about it, I realize that I can't really be around her, Edward, or any the Cullens without digging up the past again, which is something that I really don't want to relive. I honestly want to leave the past where it is and just move on with my life." I twiddled my thumbs as I spoke.

"Bella, don't worry about it. You won't have to let them back into your life if you don't want them to be," Ethan encouraged. I smiled at my friend.

"Well, you might have to see them again. You did tell them when and where your next gig is." Ethan groaned when I told him this. "Hey, I don't want you to hate them because of what I told you. That happen to me over ten years ago, and we're all different people now. Well, I am; that's for sure. I'm not going to let them get under my skin again. Besides, I'm going to move on and live my life the way I want to. The Cullens may be a part of it or they may not be. Either way, I'm going to find my happily ever after with or without them in my life, so you don't need to worry about me or hate them either."

"That's my girl." Ethan hugged me and kissed my temple. Lia squeezed my hand warmly with encouragement and love.

"Bella, you can borrow Ethan as your pseudo-boyfriend anytime you want, but it will cost you cooking a meal for me each time you do."

Lia winked at me. Of course, that made me burst out with laughter, and Ethan looked horrified that his girlfriend was actually pimping him out to me for food. We cleaned up and called it a night. After Ethan and Lia left, I got ready for bed. I heard a beep go off from my cell phone. I got an email message from Alice.

_Bella,_

_How did your date go? Ethan seemed really nice, and you both made a cute couple together. I wanted to know if you're up for coffee tomorrow. Same place as before, around three o'clock? Let me know. Maybe we can go shopping too._

_Alice._

I wanted to roll my eyes and to reply back with a big, fat no. I couldn't explain what I had felt at that moment, but after my chat with Ethan and Lia, I couldn't stop myself from feeling all the my long forgotten anger at Alice and Edward for ditching me for that bitch, Jessica, and making my life in high school so lonely and miserable. And now that Jessica was no longer in the picture, Alice simply assumed that we'd be best friends again. Well, I had a news flash for her. I wasn't that same chubby, shy, introverted Bella anymore. I didn't allow people to walk all over me like I was a piece of dirt. I had changed and blossomed into my own over the past ten years without any of their friendship or support.

A part of me wanted nothing more than to tell them to shove off, but then another part of me wanted to give them a second chance to make it up to me. I didn't know what to do but thought that I should tread slowly when it came to the Cullens. I would just go with the flow and let things happen the way should. It wasn't like I was alone; I had friends of my own now; and truthfully, it wouldn't hurt to see what could happen if I gave them a chance. If they ended up doing the same thing that they did to me when we were kids, then I'd drop them immediately without any remorse.

I sent Alice a text telling her that tomorrow coffee at three o'clock was fine and went to bed.

The next morning, I woke up and headed to the Benaroya Hall around ten in the morning. There wasn't any rehearsal scheduled, but I wanted to go and grab a practice space. I was working on a musical piece. I wanted to fuse in classical piano and cello and contemporize it with indy rock. I know it had been done before but I wanted to my own flavor to it. It was one of the movements for the symphony that I was composing.

I would have worked from home, but with my three o'clock meeting with Alice, it was easier to work from one of the practice rooms. It got easier once I got into my grove, and I had lost complete track of the time. Before I knew it, I had skipped lunch, and it was already a quarter to three.

I packed up everything and cleaned my mess. I shoved everything into my SUV and headed towards Starbucks. When I got there, to my surprise, there was not only Alice, but Jasper, Emmett, Rosalie, and even Edward all waiting for me in the corner at one of the larger tables.

Alice immediately spotted me and waved her hand. I walked over to them and said hi to everybody. I noticed that the only chair available was next to Edward. I set down my messenger bag with my notebooks, music scores, and laptop, which I refused to leave it in my car. I immediately went to order my earl grey tea with a lemon poppy-seed muffin. This would have to tie me over until I could go and get some real food to satisfy my hunger.

As I waited for my order, I couldn't help but feel like I was being watched. My eyes swept across the café and spotted Edward's intense gaze directed straight at me. Our eyes locked onto each other, and it was like we were having a heavy staring contest because we didn't release each other's gaze until I heard my name called to retrieve my order.

I took my time to get back to the table. A part of me wanted to make up another bogus excuse and run out there as fast as my clumsy feet would take me, but I decided against because I was determined to prove to myself that I could do this.

"So, Bella, how was your date last night?" Alice immediately blurted out before my butt touched the seat. My head jerked up to look at a giddy Alice. Her eyes shone brightly back at me. I bit down on my lip. I was just going to tell them that Ethan and I were just friends because I couldn't lie anymore.

"Oh, um, it was alright," I mumbled.

"What's wrong, Bella? You don't look alright to me," Rosalie asked with a worried face. I gave her a small smile.

"Oh, it's just that Ethan and I decided to just remain as friends instead of being more," I explained. I suddenly saw something strange through the corner of my eye.

Was it me, or did I see Edward's lips twitch up? Nah, it had to be my imagination playing tricks on me.

"Oh, really? You two looked so close and happy together," Rosalie said with a hint of sadness.

I nodded my head solemnly, not knowing how else to react.

"Yeah, well, that was the problem. It didn't feel right because it was more like dating my brother instead of my boyfriend. He felt the same way too. So we decided to remain good friends. He's actually seeing another girl, Amelia. She's a sweetheart and more his type."

I smiled endearingly at the thought of Ethan and Amelia. Alice scoffed obnoxiously at me.

"And you're alright with that?" she asked indignantly at me.

I was starting to get pissed off at her attitude towards my best friends. She didn't know them like I did and had no right to say that. Yes, I did lie to her that Ethan was my pho-man, but she had no right to be pissed at him when I was okay with him being with someone else.

"Yeah, I'm totally fine with it. Why wouldn't I be? It's not like we were exclusive or anything." I defended my best friend's honor.

"But he wanted to be your boyfriend. Aren't you hurt by him seeing another girl?" Alice asked incredulously.

"No, because we both mutually decided that it wasn't working for us. He's too much like family to me than a lover. Besides, he never betrayed me, and I would appreciate it if you didn't talk about him like that," I snapped back to her. I was starting to get really pissed off now, and everyone must have sensed it because Rosalie, Emmett, and Jasper began talking to change the mood into a happier subject.

The tension quickly left the table as everyone happily listened to Emmett and Jasper's funny stories about college and work. I was quietly enjoying my tea when I felt something brush against my leg. I ignored it, thinking it was nothing, but then I felt it again. Then I looked under the table to see what was touching me. To my surprise, I discovered that it was Edward's hand skimming the outside of my thigh.

I hated how my body had reacted to his soft touch as a lust-filled shiver trickled down my body to my stomach, which did something funny. It had been a long time since a man had touched me like that and with that man being Edward Cullen, it made it ten times worse. I swiftly glared up at Edward, only to see that he wasn't looking at me but talking to Jasper like nothing was going on. Yet I did see an evil smirk on his lips, which indicated that he knew exactly what he was doing to me. I tried to shift myself away from him, but I couldn't get very far from him.

Throughout the next ten minutes, Edward managed to make me jump and quietly yelp on six different occasions. I felt his hand rub my outer thigh; squeeze my knee; and his foot grazing up and down my calf. Edward became bolder with each touch. Once I caught his hand before it slipped in the valley between my thighs. I couldn't believe he actually tried to touch me there. I gave him an angry look as a warning to watch himself, but Edward chose to ignore my pointed glares.

Just then my phone rang and diverted my attention away from Edward. I grabbed my phone and saw that it was Ian, Ethan's older brother, calling.

"Sorry, I need to take this," I apologized and answered the call. "Hello?"

"Hey, Bells," Ian chirped.

"Hey, Ian, what's up?"

"I was wondering what you're doing later tonight. Are you busy?"

"Uh, why? What are you planning on doing?" I asked. Everyone was talking amongst themselves. I couldn't help notice Alice and Rosalie huddling together, whispering like they were conspiring together. I slightly turned to the side of my seat.

"Ethan wanted to record some songs tonight, and I think his song would sound better if it had some strings besides the guitar and bass. So are you up to recording?" Ian asked.

"What song and who is it for?"

"It's for Lia's birthday in two weeks. He's going to play it for her at dinner, but he wanted to have a copy for her also. He told you about that, didn't he?"

"Yup, guess who's cooking their meal." I paused to let out a haughty chuckle. "Josh is letting your brother use his restaurant to wine and dine her. He had to beg and bribe Ryan to let me set foot in his kitchen to prepare their meal. I don't know what he and Josh promised Ryan though, but I have a hunch that it had to do with the prospects of me doing something really naughty with him. I'm talking like Bom-cheeka-boun-boun kind of naughty." I gagged at the thought while Ian laughed at my cheesy imitation of 70's porno music.

Josh was my best friend, Lily's boyfriend. He owned a restaurant with his business partner, Ryan, who was also the head chef of Calla Lily. Ryan was a notorious player and self-acclaimed bachelor. He has always been interest in getting me into his bed for one night, but I would always turn him down. He just wasn't my type, and I wasn't the one-night stand kind of girl. Plus, I had no idea what venereal diseases his dick was carrying because of all the countless number of cooches it's been inside of. Can you say eww?

"What made you think that?" he asked.

"Oh, I don't know, it could have been from Ryan asking me if I wanted me to check his _produce_ later on that evening after everyone left, which kind of gave it away for me. I swear if I didn't love your brother so much like he was my own, then I would have killed him a long time. He only uses me for my culinary skills instead of my musical talents."

"Yeah, well, I heard that you use him for other things as well. I can't believe you had him pose as your pho-man last night," Ian teased. I wanted to scream but bit down on my lip to stifle it.

"How the hell did you hear about that?" I hissed in to the phone.

"Ethan told me this morning. He explained the whole situation to me if that's okay with you. You know I won't tell anyone unless you give me the okay," he apologized.

"Yeah, it's fine if you know. I was probably going to tell you soon anyways." I sighed.

"Hey, where are you, Bells? I hear a lot of noise in the background."

"I'm having coffee with some old friends." I didn't want to give names.

"Are you with the _Collins_?" His voice sneered "Collins" like it was a bad word. I had to laugh out loud at that.

"You know you got the name wrong. Anyways, yes, I am. Hold on and let me see when I can come over… Let me see…um…" I got out my planner from my bag. "I can't do anything all this week, or the next, and definitely not during this weekend…um…You know what? I only have available time tonight. I guess I have no choice but to come over after I'm done here. I should be able to get to your studio in an hour or so." I looked down at my watch.

"Sweet, I'll see you then."

"Oh, Ian, I was wondering if I can record something for Jeffrey too. Oh, and I wanted your opinion on something as well. And your brother's too if he's not too busy working on his surprise birthday serenade." I was careful not to mention Ethan's name in front of the Cullens.

"Really, what did you have in mind?"

"I was playing the prelude to Bach's _Cello Suite No. 1,_ and Jeffrey really like it. I wanted to record the song for him. I think he'll really like it for bedtime."

"That's so sweet, Bells. I think I'm going to get cavities."

"Shut up, Ian, before I kick your ass later on and deny you what you really want from me," I teased him. I always bake cookies and brownies for Ian as a thank you for letting me record in his studio.

"No, you wouldn't." He quipped.

"Oh, yes, I would." I mocked back at him.

"You wouldn't be that cruel, would you?"

"Oh, you know I can be." I cynically laughed at him.

"Fine, but I want a double batch."

"Um…Deal."

"I never knew you can be so vindictive, Bella Swan."

"Oh, yeah, baby, you know I can be a bitch sometimes, but you still love me, don't you."

Ian laughed out loudly and I followed. Our happy moment was cut short when I felt Edward slip his hand over my thigh and his finger skimmed up towards my secret Eden again. I jumped out of my chair and yelped into my phone. Ian asked me if everything was alright as I shot a murderous glare at Edward, but it was then that I noticed everybody's eyes were all on me.

"You know what, Ian. I have to get off right now, but I'll see you later tonight." I slowly sat down in my seat and gave everyone a tentative smile.

"Sure, Bells. Oh, by the way, we're out of butter, so you need to pick some up if you're going to make my brownies. Plus, I'll have your cranberry juice and vodka ready for you when you arrive."

"Oh, Ian, only you know the quickest way to my heart." I laughed.

"You know it." Ian smugly said into the phone. Then I heard Cathy laughing in the background.

"Hey, Bella, come over quickly. I need my drinking partner." Cathy sang into the phone. "If you come soon, I'll make it worth your wild with tequila."

I had to laugh at that. "Tell Cathy that I will never do body shots with her again."

Then I felt Edward's finger push along the seam in the crotch of my jeans. When did he get his hand back down there? But that didn't stop me from biting down on my bottom lip to stifle the moan caught in my throat, but what was worse was that my hip bucked naturally into his hand. I hated how my body reacted to Edward's touch, and it was starting to really piss me off. However, it didn't stop me from blushing furiously as I mumbled, "Okay, I have to really get going. I'll see you in a bit. Bye," quickly into the phone.

"Bye, Bells." Ian and Cathy sang into the phone.

I put away my phone and met everyone's gazes.

"So, what was all that about, Bella?" Emmett wiggled his eyebrows with a curious smile on his face.

"Oh, that was just a friend of mine, who needed an important favor from me. I'm sorry, but I need to get going soon." I mumbled and everyone started to whine and complain for me bailing on them.

"But I thought we can go shopping and grab some dinner afterwards," Alice pouted.

"Sorry, Alice, but a friend really needs me to at his recording studio for something, and I can't meet with them any other time this week or the next. I'm really sorry." I got up and started to gather my things.

"Can you just tell us who this guy, Ian, is?" Alice asked curiously.

"He's just a friend."

"That's not how it sounded to me. You sure moved on quickly from Ethan last night," she retorted snidely.

Anger bubbled inside of me. She actually thought I was hooking up with Ian tonight and had the nerve to call me out on it like I was some kind of a slut.

"Well, he is just a good friend to me, and it's really none of your business, if you ask me." I snapped. Everyone looked surprised by my attitude, especially Alice.

"Jeez, Bella, you don't need to bite my head off. I thought Ethan was just a 'friend' and you dropped him. I figured you moved on with another 'friend.' Besides we were best friends, right? And best friends share everything with each other," Alice griped sarcastically.

I took a deep, calming breath. I didn't want to say it here, but I was so angry from her accusation that I had to let it all out.

"I'm sorry for being rude to you, Alice, but you must know that I have a life of my own outside of you now, and I don't think you are entitled to know every detail of it. It's been, what, over fourteen years since the last time you really talked to me, and now you think just because you've see me again after all these years, and we hung out on several occasions that makes us BFF, or whatever you call it. Well, I have some shocking news for you, Alice, because we're not. Yes, you were once my best friend a very long time ago when we were little. In fact, you and Edward were my only friends back then, but then you ditched me right after Jessica moved to Forks."

Everyone flinched at hearing Jessica's name. I didn't care in being polite and civil anymore and knew that there was no turning back now.

"What are you talking about Bella? We never left you behind. We just drifted apart in high school, that's all. It happens all the time." Alice defended herself, indignantly.

"No, Alice, you and your brother dropped me like yesterday's trash and treated me like crap. Whenever I tried to approach you or Edward in high school, you would act like you were too good to ever talk to me and blatantly ignore me all together. You only talked to me when you wanted something from me, or when we had to work on a project together. You knew I had a hard time being accepted at school because of the way I looked. I was ridiculed, bullied, and mocked by everyone at that school, including you. You used to defend me and stood next to me when I tried to fight them off, but then you crossed over to dark side and sometimes you were the one to cast the first stone." I accused her. Alice tried to defend herself again, but I wouldn't let her.

"No, don't say that you never did that because you really did. Does 'O, my God, she is just so fat, I wonder how she can find anything that can fit over her gigantic ass,' ring a bell? Or 'I'd rather die than to be a fat cow like Belly Swan.'" I glared at her. Alice looked down guiltily down at her lap.

"I understand people grow apart in high school, and I get that Jessica was like a shiny new toy that everyone wanted a piece of. She was gorgeous and fun to be around with, and I wasn't. But that still doesn't mean that it didn't hurt me or make it right when I lost my only friends for absolutely no reason; and then be betrayed by them none-the-less. And I know that you know how it feels to go through all that pain and sorrow because you got a taste of what that's like five years ago."

Edward looked at his sister and twitched his eyebrow because he knew that I knew the details behind Jessica's affair and his divorce. I rolled my eyes at him.

"Edward, don't even get upset at Alice for telling me because it was obvious for me to notice that you and Jessica split up because if you remember, I was there to watch your four year high school relationship and was there at your wedding to witness your nuptials to her." I wanted to call her a skanky cheating ho-bag but chose not to.

"But I'm not here to rehash the past because I want you two to know that I'm over it all and have moved on. We were kids back then, and, quite frankly, I'm no longer the shy, introverted Belly Swan anymore, so don't even act like you know me at all because the girl, you knew ten years ago, is long gone. I left her behind in Forks when I left for New York ten years ago, and I've changed into a completely different person. I found a new life and career that gave me success and happiness. Now I have true friends who support and encourage me. So you must see the irony when I hear you say that we're best friends because maybe we were a long time ago, but now I don't see that at all." I stood up in my seat and closely eyed Alice and Edward.

"I'm up for getting to know each other again but I simply want you to know that I won't open up to you as easily like I did when we were little. I may have forgiven you for all the crap that you put me through in high school but that doesn't mean that I'll trust you as easily as I once did before. I guess that leaves us little room to be friends unless you prove me wrong."

I turned to everyone else sitting quietly around the table. "I'm sorry, everyone, for dropping such a huge load of crap on your laps, but I'm not going to sit there like an idiot and pretend that everything is good and dandy when it's not. I refuse to act like I'm best of friends with the people who abandoned, ignored, and made fun of me simply by the fact that they thought that they were too cool for me. I have too much pride and dignity now to let that shit happen again." No one could argue with me. "Well, I guess this goodbye then."

I turned on my heels and walked out of the doors. I cried the entire way over to Ian and Cathy's house. His studio was built in his basement, where I recorded everything.

"Hey, you got here quicker than I though." Ian greeted me cheerfully, but then his smile disappeared as soon he saw my red cheeks and puffy eyes. "Did something happen, Bella?"

I walked past him and down to the basement, where Ethan, Lily, Josh, and Cathy were all waiting. Lily, Josh, and Cathy started drinking already and were slightly buzzed but not drunk. They all stopped their laughing and joking around when they saw the tears in my eyes. I couldn't hold them back anymore and broke down crying.

"Bella, what's wrong? Are you hurt? What happened?" Lily pleaded with me. Ethan walked up to me and hugged me tightly to his chest.

"I heard you were having coffee with _them._ Did they say something to you?" he whispered into my ear. I nodded my head slowly.

"I'm going to kill them." Ian hissed.

I sniffled loudly and brushed away my tears. Lily handed me a couple of tissues to blow my nose with.

"No-o, you won't. I-I'm just up-set because I t-told Al-lice and Ed-ward off about all the shi-it they p-put me through in hi-igh school. I-I'm crying b-becau-se I hate fe-eling all those crap-py mem-mor-ies again." I sputtered through my tears.

I cried for a good minute and managed to compose myself. The mood in the room was dead and somber, so to liven it up, we all did a shot of tequila together. Ethan, Ian, and I grabbed our instruments and began to play, record, and have fun together. After we finished Ethan's song for Lia and my recording for Jeffrey, Lily and I whipped up some food for all of us. Lia joined us around dinner time after her shift was over, and my friends helped me forget of the crappy day that I had.

We all ended getting completely smashed on vodka, cranberry juice, and tequila. I crashed on Ian's couch and woke up with the biggest hangover ever in my life. After my night of drunken night of debauchery, I kissed away my sorrows and my pathetic past goodbye once again. I had truly believed that yesterday afternoon was the last time I would ever see or hear from anyone of the Cullen clan ever again. However, like all things in my life, nothing would ever go according to how I thought they would go. For that wasn't my last encounter with them. No, fate had to step and throw yet another wrench in my life.

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**A/N: I hoped you like the first chapter. I'll update the next chapter later soon! See you then!**

**FYI, those waiting for _Kick-Ass Bella Swan_ update, I'll have it ready and posted very soon! Thanks!**


	2. 2 Dreams Really Do Come True After All

**A/N: I don't own Twilight.**

**Enjoy!**

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**Chapter Two: Dreams Really Do Come True After All**

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My life had reverted back to normal to the time before Alice and Edward had accidentally waltzed their way back into my life again. My days composed of hours of rehearsals and performances, and I also composed music of my own during my off hours.

Ethan, Ian, and I were working on a collaboration CD together with a couple of songs that was a good fusion between Ethan's creative indie rock style, Ian's love of pop and R&B, and my classical background and passion for light rock. It was crazy, but we made it work, and it sounded amazing in my opinion. We were even thinking about recording and releasing an album together. Of course, if we did this, I was going to be the financial backer and help produce it, Ian was going to mix and engineer it, and Ethan, his band, and I were going to play it.

It's been about two months since that afternoon with the Cullens at Starbucks. Like I assumed, Alice had never called me again, so I figured that she didn't want to be friends with me after all. Not that I actually blamed her for not calling because I would stay away from me as well after I unleashed fourteen years of pent up resentment and anger on her. Even though I knew that I would probably never see her again, I had stopped going back to that particular Starbucks out of fear of running into her again. I knew that I was being stupid, but I didn't want to take any chances. I found a new coffee place to go and satiate my caffeine addiction. It was easy to find because I lived in Seattle, the coffee capital of the world.

Now, I was sitting at the Brewery, sipping on my latte and working on my latest compositions, when my phone rang. It was an unknown number, so I hesitated in answering it, but it might have been important.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Bella. This is Esme Cullen." Her soft voice rang in my ear.

Oh, I didn't expect to ever have a phone call from Esme Cullen.

"Oh, hello, Esme. What a pleasant surprise. How are you doing?" I spoke politely into the phone.

"I'm good, dear. How are you doing? I haven't seen you in awhile. I asked Alice about you, but she said that you've been extremely busy lately to meet up with her. That's such a shame too because you, Alice, and Edward were inseparable when you were little."

_Yeah, that was until your children thought that they were too good for me and ditched me for your cheating ex-daughter-in-law._

I chastised myself for that vindictive thought. Sometimes, my mind could be so cynical. There was no way in hell that I could say something that cruel to Esme. Even though she was the mother of the two Judases in my life, she was still the kindest, warmest person I ever knew. There were times when I wished my own mother was more like Esme Cullen.

"Yes, I have been extremely busy lately with the SSO and other side projects that I've been working on.

"Oh, can I ask what you're working on, dear?"

"Um, sure, uh, I'm in the middle of working on a collaboration album with some of my friends."

"Oh, you're making a album, Bella. How exciting. What is it? Is it a collection of classical ensemble pieces?" she asked like she was genuinely interested.

"No, actually it's a fusion of different genres of music. My friends and I have been talking about doing this for quite awhile. We finally decided it was time to experiment with our musical tastes and make this dream come true together."

"That sounds wonderful, Bella. I'm so happy for you." Then she hissed in a breath. "Oh, dear, then you must be incredibly busy."

I could hear the disappointment in her voice. I knew her call was something important because why else would she call me ever?

"I am, but I can always make time for you, Esme. What is it that wanted to ask me?" I encouraged her to tell me.

"Well, Carlisle and I are hosting a charity event for the Seattle Children's Hospital, and we're thinking about doing a benefit concert. We were wondering if you would play as the main soloist for evening."

"Oh…" I was actually flattered by the request. "I would be honored to, but are you sure? I'm nowhere near as a recognizable name to pull off such an event. I don't think I would draw any attention for charity."

"Oh, nonsense, you play wonderfully, Bella. It's just a small event, and we thought that this would be a good opportunity for you as well." Esme persuaded me.

It was so nice of her to think of me for any exposure like this would be phenomenal for a musician's career.

"When is the date for this charity?"

"June fifteenth. Is that too short of a notice, dear?"

I quickly checked my scheduled, and I was free that day. It was three months away, so that gave me plenty of time to practice and prepare.

"No, that would be fine. Will you let me know who the conductor is and when orchestra meets, so I can set up rehearsal schedule with them?" I asked.

"Oh, certainly, Bella. Thank you very much for doing this, Bella."

I suddenly thought of Lia, and how she worked at that same hospital. I was sure she would love to go to this event and maybe all my friends would want to go.

"Um, Esme, would it be alright if I can have six tickets for the charity event. I wanted to invite my friends to it for one of them works at the Children's Hospital. I think it would mean a lot to her, and I'll gladly pay for their tickets myself."

"Oh, pish-posh, Bella. It's no trouble at all, and don't even think about paying for them. It's on me as a thank you for performing. Now, I wanted to discuss the commission for your performance."

"Um, excuse me, Esme, but I won't accept any form of payment for this benefit concert. It's a charity event, so I don't need to be paid, and I'll gladly pay for the cost of the tickets."

"No, dear, I couldn't possibly let you do that." She argued, leaving me groaning a little in frustration. I couldn't let her pay for everything and then on top of that, pay me for performing at the charity event.

"Alright then, I'll take the tickets as my compensation then." I bartered with her. "Please, Esme, I'll accept the tickets and that is all. I really don't want any money for this event; it just doesn't feel right if I accept it. Seriously, the experience and tickets alone are enough for me. If this poses as issues, then could you donate it all to the charity?"

"Alright, dear, if that's what you want." Esme relented.

"Thank you," I said.

"No, thank you, Bella. I guess I'll call you later with more details, or you can come by for a visit. Everybody is coming over next Saturday night. We can have dinner all together and talk more about the benefit. Rose and Alice are also helping out with it as well."

Ooo, an awkward dinner with the Cullens did not sound like somewhere I wanted to be.

"I'm sorry, Esme, but I'd rather not. It sounds like a family dinner. Even so, I have a concert that night, so I'm working. You know with the SSO and this collaboration CD I'm working on, I'll be quite busy for the next couple of months. So I think it would best if we corresponded through the phone and email. If we have to meet, then I will set up a date with you. I'm really sorry about this, Esme."

"I understand, dear, that you have a busy career. It was lovely to talk to you again. I hope to see you soon. Goodbye, Bella." Esme spoke with such warmth and a mothering tone.

"Thank you, Esme, for understanding. I'm happy that I can help out this way. I'll talk to you soon. Bye," I said and closed my phone.

The next three months went by in a blur. My friends and I were all busy with our separate lives.

I was busy as ever. The SSO kept my days filled with rehearsals and weekends tight with concerts. My weeknights were spent mostly with Ian and Ethan in Ian's basement. We had created four songs already and recorded three of them. I was so proud of our team.

Ethan had his students and schoolwork to keep his weekdays full and his band played gigs on the weekends. But what cracked me up was that he was in charge of the school's music department, and this year's spring production was _Oklahoma. _ I found it hilarious whenever he'd bitch and moan about some of his students' 'talents' and the musical rehearsals. I'd always get a good laugh at his expense, but then he somehow turned the tables on me and blackmailed me into going to the opening night's performance, much to my chagrin. So I had spent an entire evening of High School Musical Theater that I thought sucked the life out of me. No, I was just being over dramatic. It wasn't that bad, but it wasn't that great either. But you needed to give the kids a lot of credit for all their hard work, and you could see Ethan's efforts and guidance in the performance as well, but it wasn't as if I'd die to go and see another performance again.

Ian was a sound engineer at local TV station and spinned at a nightclub on weekends. He was really good and getting a lot of attention. The best part of being friends with the DJ of one of the hottest clubs was that we had a good connection to get in without any real hassle from Dennis, the bouncer, or have to wait in line.

Cathy was busy with her school work, dissertation, and research. She was an Anthropology PH.D candidate at the University of Washington in Seattle. Cathy was brilliant. Her only problem was where she was going to end up teaching. She wanted to stay in Seattle and teach at the university, but she wasn't sure if that was going to come true. We all hoped that the U-Dubb would hire her on staff, especially Ian.

Lily's career was a kindergarten teacher and her boyfriend, Josh, owned and managed his own restaurant. He couldn't cook very well but opened it with a good friend of his, who was the head chef and his partner. The food was quite good and it was getting popular and more recognized as a Seattle hot spot. Lily helped her boyfriend out by waitressing on the hectic weekend lunch/dinner hours.

Yup, we were all busy and didn't have the time to hang out together as much as we used to, so all of us were looking forward to this charity event coming up in a few days.

Of course, I was going alone to the event, even though I could have found a date, but I simply chose not to. All my friends were going to be there, so who needed a random stranger who I would later on ditch because I didn't want to be around him much anyways.

I had managed to avoid Alice and Rosalie throughout the three months and only met with Esme. I figured that they were avoiding me too, which was fine with me. Rehearsals went smoothly, and I got along perfectly with the orchestra and conductor. I was actually looking forward to the benefit concert. I was extremely nervous, and my blood would pump pure adrenaline at the thought of performing on stage as the main soloist.

The charity event was being held at the Fairmont Olympic Hotel in Seattle. The charity booked two of the largest meeting spaces the hotel had to offer. The concert was held in the Congress Room and the rest of the event was in the Spanish ballroom.

The Congress Room was transformed into a theater with a large, elevated stage in the middle of the room with rows of chairs surrounding it, arranged to fit the 250 guests who were planning on attending tonight's concert. The Spanish Ballroom was beautifully decorated. It held Esme's sophistication and refinement. The room was arranged so the tables, which were elegantly decorated, surrounded the dance floor in the middle of the room and a smaller elevated stage was centered along with the side wall.

The concert, itself, was scheduled to only last for about 40 minutes. Tonight's performance was the three movements of Antonin Dvorak's _Cello Concerto in B minor_**. **This was an incredibly difficult arrangement to play, but I was definitely up for the challenge. It thrilled me to tackle such an intricate, complex piece. I played it once when I was at Julliard; I didn't get the solo but that didn't stop me for practicing it.

As I practice this concerto, it reminded me so much of my college days and all the rigorous torment and anxiety I had to go through during that time. All the blood, sweat, and tears I poured out just to keep up with the competition to be the best of the best. In the beginning, I struggled so much with my low self-esteem I had carried with me from Forks, and it really hindered my performance and standing in my section. I was considered one of the worst players there. I quickly learned that I needed to step up my game and to let go of the past in order to overcome my issues, or else I would have been done for and kicked out of Julliard. I had to learn to accept myself for who I was and also to love myself. It was harder to do than to say, but eventually I got the hang of it. Now, when I looked back to those years, I knew in my heart that all my trials and suffering were well worth all the trouble because the direction my life had taken was a testament of how strong I truly was.

It was Saturday, the fifteenth, and the concert was only three hours away from now. After the performance, a handful of the musicians from orchestra were paid to remain and play for the rest of the evening while the rest were off the clock but it didn't mean that they were able to stay for the rest of the evening. The conductor and I were on the only ones invited to stay afterward and join the party as guests. Dinner was going to be served after a brief cocktail hour that would follow after the concert. The rest of the evening was filled with more cocktails, mingling, and dancing.

For tonight's event, I wore a lovely, strapless, white evening gown with two lines of silver beading on top and under the bust. I chose to wear white because the orchestra and conductor were all dress in black. I was the soloist, so I needed to stand out. My only requirement for my gown was that the skirt needed to be loose and flowing because I had to spread my legs apart to fit the cello in between them. It wasn't a very lady-like of me to sit like that, but it got the job done.

I loved my gown, but there were two things that made me really self-conscious about wearing it though. The first was the fact that I couldn't wear a conventional strapless bra underneath the bodice made me slightly uneasy. The dress was essentially backless except for silver trim that went across my back. Luckily, there was a built in bra in the bust, but it still left me feeling exposed. I didn't really trust the padding of the so-call bra, but then Lily pointed out to me to count my lucky stars because if there wasn't a built in bra, then I would have been forced to wear a silicon bra, which were very uncomfortable, or pasties, which were no better than the silicon bra and stung like a bitch to take off.

The second issue I had was that the outline of my legs was visible through the white silky, skirt with the bright lights shining behind me on stage. I couldn't wear a normal slip underneath the gown because they prevented me from spreading my legs far enough to fit my cello between them. So I was force to wear silky white shorts over my underwear. I was worried that it might make my hips and butt look bunching and disfigured, but Lily, Cathy, and Lia all told me I was only being silly and paranoid.

I finished getting ready in a hotel room that Esme booked for me for the entire weekend. I arrived yesterday evening and was stay until tomorrow morning. I told her that she didn't have to do this for me, but I had a feeling that she was trying to make it up to me for refusing my commission for this concert. I didn't argue with her long because it was like a piece of heaven. The bed was so plush that I felt like I was sleeping on a cloud. I took full advantage of the indoor pool and sauna. The hotel had an outdoor pool, but I didn't want to risk the chance of burning my pasty white skin to a crisp before tonight's concert. It would have been tragic if that happened and extremely stupid on my part.

With my hair and makeup all done, I made my way down to the ballroom and waited in a ready room off to the side for my introduction. The event coordinator came into the room and told me that it was time to go out on stage. I grab the neck of my cello and bow and made my way to the platform. I heard a round of applause and took my seat near the middle of the stage, close to the conductor's podium. I spread my legs apart and nestled my cello between them. I quickly swept my hair to the side as I rested the neck of my cello on my left shoulder.

I settled into position; my eyes quickly swept around the room. It was dark for only the stage was lit brightly, so I couldn't see any of the faces in the audience. Nevertheless, I knew in my heart that my friends were out there and so were the Cullens. My stomach did a nervous flip at the thought of Edward watching me play, but I quickly moved my nerves aside and rested my gaze upon the conductor.

He raised his arms to signal for us to get ready. He started the count, and we began to play. Soon, I found myself closing my eyes and getting lost in the music. I took a few liberties with the cello solo as I saw fit. Luckily, the conductor encouraged me to put my own flare in the piece and allowed me the freedom to play my own interpretation of it. Before I knew it, it was over, and all I heard was a round of applause and shouts of praises. The conductor thanked the orchestra with a warm smile. I got up to take my bow, and he hugged me.

I watched as the conductor smiled happily at me and the orchestra behind me again, and then he turned to face the audience to take his bow. Then his hand pointed at me, and I stood up again and gracefully took my bow with one hand holding my cello and the other laying on my chest, so that I didn't flash anyone the girls as I took a bow. The audience clapped louder and cheers fill the air. I smiled brightly out into the room and took another bow.

After the concert ended, all of the guests moved out into the ballroom. I went back to the side room to pack away my cello. The concierge was going to make sure it got back to my room safe and sound. As I was packing away my baby, I heard a knock at the door. I assumed that it would be one of my friends, but it was Alice instead. She looked rather nervous and fidgety, instead of her cheerful, confident self.

"Hey, Bella, can I come in and talk to you for a second?" she asked shyly.

I was totally taken aback by her demure demeanor. I really didn't know what to expect but nodded my head for her to come in and close the door.

"Sure, so what did you want to talk about?"

I closed my cello case and shut the clasped tight. I turned and gave Alice my undivided attention.

"Well, I wanted to say that you played wonderfully tonight. Wow, I never realized that you were so talented, Bella."

She gave me a genuine smile and looked down at her hands. I noticed how she was twisting and twiddle her fingers together.

"Thank you, Alice. I'm glad you enjoyed it." I gestured her to take a seat, and I moved to sit in the seat across from her. "Is that all you wanted to talk about?"

"Well, no," she whispered, "I just wanted to…" She took in a long breath of air. "I wanted to apologize for everything, Bella. I'm so sorry for all that I did to you back when we were in high school. I was so selfish; I only thought about myself and totally disregarded your feelings. And when I saw you again, it felt like old times, and I thought we can just pick up where we had left off. I never really thought twice about all the pain you went through…that I gave you. Oh, my gosh, Bella, I'm so sorry. Can you ever forgive me? You must hate me, and I don't really blame you for that, but I do want to be friends again," she said this all in one breath.

I was left speechless because I never expected an apology from her. I blinked a couple of times at her before I could even formulate what I was going to say to her. Alice looked nervously at me.

"Bella, please say something," she squeaked.

Just then, there was a knock at the door. It was Lily and Ethan.

"Hey, Bells, we were just going to…Oh, I didn't know you had company with you," Lily said as she opened the door. Suddenly, Ethan froze next to her. His jaw clenched tightly as his gaze fell between me and Alice.

"Is everything okay in here, Bells?" he asked vigilantly. Lily looked slightly confused by Ethan's uptight body language.

I smiled at my friends and nodded my head. "I'm fine, Ethan. Alice and I were just talking. I'll join you guys in a little bit."

I gave a look that told them I wanted to talk to Alice alone. Ethan and Lily reluctantly backed out of the room, but Ethan turned around to face us again.

"Okay, Bells, I guess we'll see you in a bit. If you need us, don't hesitate to call us."

Ethan looked at Alice with so much scrutiny that it made me a little uncomfortable. Then he left the room, but he left a chilly air behind him.

"I guess they know everything?" she timidly asked me. I nodded my head. "They must really hate me."

"Yeah, sorry about Ethan. He usually doesn't act like that, but we always look out for one another. We don't really hide secrets from each other." I shrugged my shoulders indifferently.

"Oh," Alice said dejectedly, "So I guess there no way that we can be friends again, huh?"

"Listen, Alice, I'll be honest with you. You did a lot of shit to me in high school, and I got badly burned because of it. It took me awhile after graduation to get over all that crap, and I couldn't have done it without Ethan and Lily. But I was telling the truth when I said that now I'm over all of it because I really am. I'm not saying this to put you through a guilt trip or to get revenge, but I honestly haven't thought of you or your brother for the past five years until that night I saw you at that restaurant."

Alice looked dolefully down at her lap. At that moment, I saw her sincerity and regret for the past fourteen years. In my heart, I wanted to hate her, resent her, and even torture her for all the crap she put me through all those years ago because she thought that she was too good to be friends with me, but I couldn't. It wasn't in my nature to be that cruel. Also, she genuinely apologized for her past mistakes and I couldn't hold it against her anymore.

"But thank you, Alice, for your apology. You don't know how much it means for me to hear you say that you're sorry and that you want to be friends again."

Alice jerked her head up so that her gaze met mine again. There was hope shining brightly in her eyes, and it made me feel good inside to know that she was being genuine and sincere about the things she said.

"Really?" she chirped.

I nodded my head and smiled. "Really. Let's just take things slow for now, Alice, because it will take some time to rebuild my trust in you as a friend. But if you're willing to wait, then I will be more than happy to try and get to know each other again if that's what you really want. A girl can't have too many friends, you know." I winked at her. Alice laughed and catapulted herself into my arms for a big hug.

"Thank you, Bella. I promise that I'll make it up to you. You won't regret this," she vowed to me.

I helped wipe a few stray tears from Alice's cheek and then we both burst out into a giggling fits. Alice fixed her make-up, and we made our way out of the ready room.

She followed me as I dropped off my cello case for the hotel's concierge to deliver back to my room. Then we walked into the magnificently decorated ballroom and parted ways.

"Promise me that you'll come over to talk to all of us. Rose, Em, and Jas really missed you too. They wanted to respect your privacy and give you some space, but I know that they're dying to talk to you again," she pleaded with me. I nodded my head in consent that I would come later on through the dinner, and we parted our ways.

Once I reached my table, my friends bombarded me with lots of questions about what Alice and I were talking alone about. I explained how she apologized to me, that I forgave her, and we were going to try to be friends again.

"Wow, Bells, you're like a saint or something," Ian commented, "If it were up to me, I would have held onto my grudge and never forgave them. Dude, I'd even enlist you guys to plot my revenge on them too." I had to laugh because he was being so serious about it too.

"Well, what can I say, I'm like Jesus and that's what I do best." I gave them smug, sarcastic face to my friends, but then rolled my eyes to dismiss my silly joke. "No, it's just that I could see the honesty in her apology. It meant a lot to hear it coming directly out of her mouth, and I felt vindicated and justified in some way with that apology. Plus, she promised that she would do her best to make it up to me. I guess we'll just have to see if she comes through with her promises." I smiled to myself because I felt really good and at peace inside.

"What about Edward?" Lily asked. She cocked an eyebrow at me.

"What about him?" I evaded her question right back to her.

"If he also apologizes, are you going to forgive him as easily as you did with Alice?" she shot right back at me.

For once, I didn't have an answer to that particular question.

_What will I do if Edward apologizes to me? Will I forgive him? _

_You should. I mean you did with Alice._

_Yeah, but this is totally different. I wasn't in love with Alice for most of my life._

_Well, what do you want to do?_

_I'm not really sure._

_Well, I guess we'll cross that bridge when we get to it, now won't we?_

"Bella. Yoo-hoo, earth to Bella, are you still with us?" Ethan's hand waved in front of my face, which broke my train of thought.

"Huh? Oh, sorry, I was just deep in thought," I mumbled.

"What were you thinking about so intently? We've been calling you for awhile now and all we got from you was distant, faraway look in your eyes." Cathy smirked at me.

"I was thinking what I would do if Edward apologized to me as well." I told them truthfully.

"And did you come up with a conclusion, Bells?" Ian eyed me.

I shrugged my shoulder and looked indecisively at my friends. "Nope, I came up with nothing," I said candidly. "I really don't know what I would say or do if he ever apologized to me. It's totally different with him because I've been in love with him for such a long period in my life. And quite frankly, I don't even know if he has to apology to me in the first place. I mean, the only reason he left me behind was because he fell in love with another girl. It's true that it was heart-breaking to watch him be in love and eventually marry the bitch who stole everything away from me that I held dear to my heart, but I wonder if it's any of his fault for following his own heart." I answered my friends as sincerely as I could.

They were speechless because none of them were ever in this kind of situation before, so their words would sound empty and superficial to me.

"All I'll say is this to you, Bells. It's your life and your decisions. If you decide to forgive and invite these people back in your life, we're here for you and fully support your decision. And if they ever hurt you like they did before, know that we have your back and there will be nothing that will stop us from kicking their asses for you." Ethan smiled warmly at me. I nodded my head enthusiastically at my best friends.

_I'm really lucky to have such awesome friends, aren't I?_

_Yeah, you are, Bella. Cherish them._

_I will. _

I smiled to myself, counting my blessing.

Dinner was served, and the food was delicious. We talked, ate good food, and drank wine, campaign, and cocktails. After dinner, Carlisle went up on stage and gave his speech thanking everyone for participating and donating to the charity. Then he invited his wife to come out and share the first dance of the evening with him.

As Carlisle held his wife in his arms, I remember something Jennifer Lopez said in the movie _Shall We Dance?. _Before Richard Gear's character and his dance partner were learning the steps to the waltz, she instructed to him, "You are the frame. She is the picture in your frame. Everything that you do is to show her off."

I watched Carlisle and Esme glide across the dance floor. Boy, they sure looked wonderful together. Carlisle looked dashing, and he held Esme so delicately in his arm. Esme looked beautiful and enchanting as she gazed lovingly into her husband's eyes.

After a few minutes and a round of applause, their children joined their parents out on the dance floor with their respected partners.

Then my friends joined in with all the other happy couples as well. I had to laugh a little at Ian and Ethan because they had no clue what the steps were. Poor Cathy and Lia had to endure clumsy dance steps and smashed toes, not that I was saying that I was any better because I was probably as worse as they were, maybe even more so.

I remembered how Ethan and I almost crippled each other at our freshmen winter formal at Julliard. We were the worst pair out on the dance floor. Our toes were so swollen and bruised the next morning that we both vowed never to dance with each other ever again, which we broke the following year. Even though our dancing skills were horrendous, we had so much fun together.

I chuckled quietly to myself as I reminisced all the times I shared together with my friends dancing the night away at night clubs and in our apartments. I must have been so lost in my thoughts that I didn't notice someone approaching me. I heard an "ahem" and looked up to see a handsome young man with black hair and clear blue eyes.

"Hello, my name is Oliver Daniels." He stuck out his hand for me to shake.

"Isabella Swan." I smiled back at him and place my hand in his.

He lifted our encased hands up to his lips and pecked the back of my hand. I let out a small, girlish giggle as I demurely bowed my head a little.

"Your name suits you very well, Isabella. Would you do me the honor of dancing with me?" he asked.

I looked apprehensively out on the dance floor as I bit down my bottom lip nervously out of habit. He must have noticed my hesitation and frowned at me.

"I would love to, but I must warn you that I can't dance very well. I apologize ahead of time for all the pain that your toes will have to suffer though," I fully warned him, which only made Oliver laugh heartedly.

"Oh, please, Bella, how bad can it be?" He dismissed my warning and took my hand, helping me out of my seat. He guided me out onto the dance floor. All my friends looked amused by this new development. I was actually going to dance with a man that wasn't in our circle of friends.

The music's soft melody hummed through the air. We swayed slowly back and forth to the music.

_This isn't so bad_, I thought to myself and grew slightly more confident that I wasn't going to maim Oliver with our dance.

However, it was too early for me to say that. I had let my guard down for one second, and then everything just went downhill after that. Not only did I accidentally step on Oliver's toes, it turned out that Oliver Daniels was nothing but an arrogant, self-centered pervert. While we danced, he droned on and on again about his investment portfolio, bonds, and all the money that he had. The worst part was that every other word that came out of his mouth was either some version of "fuck" or some other crude curse word.

And then after he finished bragging about his financial successes, he proceeded to tell me how hot I looked tonight, and if I played my card right, I would get lucky. I nearly lost it when he started to talk dirty to me about all the things he wanted to do to me in bed. I just met the man, and he was talking to me like I was a cheap, street corner hooker that was going to let him fuck my brains out.

I did my best to put as much distance between the two of us while we were dancing, and I had to continually grab his wandering hands away from "exploring" my body. It took every fiber in me not to slug him or just walk away from him on the dance floor because I thought I could wait it out until the song ended. The only retaliating defense that I had was to step on his toes over and over again, inflicting on him as much pain as possible. I figured that he'd get a clue that I wasn't interested, but the guy was either really dense or just really full of himself.

However, after he said, "I want to ram my tongue in your sweet, hot cunt and make you scream my name," I couldn't take anymore of this crap that he harassed me with. I wanted nothing more than to jam my stiletto heel into his foot for that little comment, when his hand squeezed my butt for the tenth time. That did it. I pushed him away from me and pulled back my fist to hit him hard in the face, but I suddenly felt someone's hand latch onto my wrist, halting my punch.

I looked over my shoulder and saw Edward with a dark scowl on his face. He pulled me behind him, walked slowly up to Oliver, and whispered something into his ear. Oliver's face grew pale and white, and he quietly backed away from us.

Edward turned around to face me and stuck his hand out for me to take.

"Bella, will you do me the honor and dance with me?"

He looked intently into my eyes. I found it almost impossible to look away from him.

I mumbled, "Yes," and then I was rewarded with his sexy crooked smile that made me weak in the knees. I placed my hand into Edward's hand, and he pulled me into his arms.

_Oh, my God…Please say I'm dreaming…_ My mind giggled with glee.

I couldn't believe what happened next. I, Isabella Swan, was dancing with Edward freaking Cullen. This was my Cinderella moment come true, but I was still expecting for the clock to strike midnight and for all of this to be over before anything really began. I didn't understand why, but I felt at ease and comfortable in Edward's arms. My nerves and apprehension evaporated, and I was left with serene calm that felt really good. I haven't felt like this in such a long time that it was nice, yet so foreign.

We moved to the music, swaying back and forth, turning, and spinning. Our eyes locked on each other, as if we were dancing in our own little world. Before I knew it, the song ended and had changed to a new song. We kept on moving and dancing in each other's arms like nothing had changed.

"Bella," Edward said softly, "Did I ever tell you that you look truly exquisite tonight?"

I shook my head slowly side to side because I couldn't really find my voice to talk. My cheeks filled with color and heat. I had to have been as red as a tomato, but Edward grinned fondly at this sight.

"Beautiful…" he murmured as he brought our joined hands to my face.

He pointed one of his fingers, and it brush softly against my cheek. I felt his other hand tracing light circles on my lower back, which sent shivers of heat coursing through my body. I took a step closer into him, and my hand clutched onto his shoulder. I looked up into his deep green eyes, and my lips parted a little. I wanted nothing more than to kiss his luscious, red lips. They looked so tempting like sweet honey, and they pulled me in closer to him.

I had almost lost myself completely, when I heard the most awful sound in the world.

"Edward, what do you think you're doing?"

My head turned, and then I came face to face with a very angry, very jealous pair of blue eyes. I blinked a few times in stunned silence before I realized exactly how close Edward was holding onto me. My body was pressed up against his while Edward's one arm wrapped firmly around my waist and his other arm, where our hands were clasped together, was bent and tucked in close to our sides. It was a very intimate pose, and we must have looked very close and cozy together.

I flushed a deep shade of red and nervously bit down on my bottom lip as I tried to back out of Edward's arms, but he wouldn't let go of his hold around me and only held me closer to him.

"What does it look like we're going, Tanya? I'm dancing with a dear friend. Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to finish my dance with Bella." Edward spoke very cold and dismissively to her, which only made her angrier.

Her face went from a shade of red to a deep purple as she stewed in rage. In her rushed temper, she screamed, "I will not stand by and let **this piece of trash** throw herself at **my boyfriend **right under my nose!"

The entire dance floor stopped in mid-step and stared at us. I was so embarrassed that all I wanted to do was walk away and hide underneath my table.

"Tanya, please, will you lower your voice and calm down. You're making a scene." Edward hissed through his clenched teeth.

"No, how do you expect me to calm down when it's so obvious that this cheap tart is trying to seduce my boyfriend right in front of me." She turned to me. "Leave, go home right now. You already played your little songs, so why are you still here? All the other musicians left after the concert, and you should too. You are no longer welcome here, now get out!" Tanya screamed at me.

I forcefully pulled my body out from Edward's embrace and stared squarely at Tanya's beady little eyes, repulsed by her words. I felt tears welling up in my eyes, but I was not going to give Tanya the pleasure or satsifaction in seeing me cry. Edward took a step forward and stood between us.

"You are way out of line, Tanya. Bella and I are old friends, and there's nothing going on between us. She's a guest at this charity, and you have no authority to make any demands here."

Edward didn't raise his voice, but his voice was strong and firm. Edward pulled Tanya out of the ballroom to somewhere more private. I had no idea what they were going to do, nor did I care because I was too upset to fuss over them.

Ethan walked up to me, wrapped his arm around my shoulder, and led me back to our table. I wanted nothing more than to leave the party because now everyone was staring at me funny. Some looks were full of sympathy while others were full of scandal and gossip. I ignored the looks and the whispers as best as I could, but a girl could only take so much irritation. After thirty minutes of everyone from the Cullen family and my friends making sure that I was alright and all the wondering stares from everyone else in the room, I have had enough and wanted nothing more than to retire for the night.

What sucked the most was Edward had yet to return, so I figured that he was still with Tanya. Maybe it was some kinky shit that they liked to do in order to get off of on each other. You know, couples who purposefully pick a fight in public, and then they'd have angry make-up sex afterward. Hey, I lived in New York for almost ten years, and this sort of shit didn't surprise me anymore.

"Hey, are you okay?" Lia asked out of concern.

I nodded my head slowly. "Yeah, well, scratch that. No, my head's bothering me. I think it'd be a good idea for me to go upstairs, and call it a night."

Lily hugged me and whispered into my ear, "Okay, get some rest and we'll see you later this week."

I nodded my head and bid everyone good-night. I walked over to the Cullen table to say good-bye to everyone.

"You're leaving?" Alice whined, but I laughed at her pout. She was still the same Alice I knew fourteen years ago.

"Yeah, I'm getting splitting headache. So I just want to take two Advil and sleep." I shrugged my shoulders apologetically.

"Alright then," Alice resigned and gave me a big hug. "I'll call you for coffee?" she asked with a hopeful gleam in her eyes. I nodded my consent and Alice let out a squeal of joy.

I said good-night, kissed, and hugged each member of the Cullen clan before I finally was able to leave and take the elevator upstairs. I didn't even bother to look around the lobby to look for any sign of Edward because I could only guess that he'd be busy with his lady of lust, Tanya. I almost gagged with disgust and contempt at the thought.

He really wasn't the Edward that I remembered and fell in love with. Maybe I never did love the real Edward, but only fell in love with the image of him that I had created. Yeah, that had to be it, but then again it didn't make me feel any better because it only forced me to see how much time that I had wasted wishing and aching over someone who wasn't real at all.

I let out a big sigh as I reached for my room card and opened the door. I saw my cello case in the corner of the room, and saw that my bed was turned down. I went into the bathroom and drew hot water for a bath to relax in and to forget everything that happened to me tonight and for the past fourteen years if I could help it.

The room filled with white steam, telling me that the water was ready for me to soak my tired body in and melt my thoughts and worries away. I walked back out to my bedroom and pulled off my dress and hung it back on the hanger over the closet door. It sure was a beautiful dress. It kind of looked like a wedding dress. I felt a gentle smirk appear, amused by my random thought.

Soon I realized that I was standing in the middle of the room, wearing only panties and white silk shorts. I slipped out of all my undergarments and quickly scrubbed my body of filth and grime in the shower stall first before I allowed myself to steep in blissful relaxation. I was not going to soak in dirty water. I managed about ten minutes of pure serenity when I heard a loud knock at the door.

_Did I forget to put the "Do Not Disturb" sign on the doorknob? _ I pondered quietly to myself.

I grabbed a towel and wrapped it around me.

_Where the heck is my robe? _

I frantically looked around the bathroom for the hotel's bathrobe, but I couldn't find one. Frustrated and feeling completely naked, cold, and wet, I padded my way to the door. Whoever was at the door, he or she was really impatient because he or she was banging very loudly on my door by the time I reached it.

At this point, I was completely aggravated beyond belief. Thinking it was some lost person who had the wrong room number, I jerked the door opened and shouted, "Can't you see the sign, pal? It says _Do Not Disturb_!"

Instead of coming face to face with a nervous bellhop, I was staring at the face of Edward. He looked disheveled and wild. His green eyes roamed up and down my wet, exposed body, and I saw them dilate with lust, desire, and need.

Reflexively, I gripped the towel tighter in my fist, and my other free arm crossed over my chest to nervously cover myself a little more, but it was futile.

"What are you doing here, Edward?"

I think my question broke through his ogling, and he nervously cleared his throat before he looked me in the eye.

"Um…yeah, I, uh, came up here to see if you were, uh, alright." He nervously stuttered.

This was new for me because never in my life had I ever heard Edward Cullen fumble over his words before.

"Oh." I paused and ducked my head. "I'm feeling better…Um, do you want to come in?" I asked only to be polite, but he nodded his head and took a step forward to walk through the door.

I opened the door a little wider and stepped aside to let him in, but my mind was reeling in panic because I had just let in Edward Cullen into my hotel room. On top of that I was practically naked except for a towel, and I was wet too.

I turned my body to see Edward standing in the middle of my suite, looking around like he didn't know what to do with himself next. I closed the door and slowly walked over to where he was standing. His eyes took another hungry sweep over my naked form again.

"Do you normally greet people dressed like that?" He quipped up an eyebrow at me.

I pulled the towel further up my chest and tried covered my exposed flesh with my free arm as best as I could again. I felt my whole body changed colors before his very eyes. What turned me on even more was watching Edward's eyes grow heavier as he watched my reaction to his little comment. Then he licked his lips, and that was all I could handle. I walked right past him, but made sure that I was out of reach from him. I marched straight to the refrigerator.

"Shut up, and have a seat, Edward, while I go and throw on some clothes." I shouted over my shoulder like I wasn't bothered by all his staring or by the sound of his voice.

"You don't have to on my account. I actually prefer this over anything you could possible wear." He retorted playfully back to me.

I snorted with laughter, while pulling out a bottle of cold water.

"Yeah, well, I don't," I smirked at him. "Think fast."

I threw him the beverage bottle. I would handled it to him, but there was no way I was getting anywhere near him, so he could grab my nearly naked body to him and tempt me into doing something I knew I'd later pay the price for.

"Drink it and cool off." I ordered him before walking back into my room to put some clothes on.

I threw on some cotton panties and a t-shirt bra. Nothing that was really sexy or alluring, but it was comfortable. Plus, I wasn't planning on letting Edward anywhere near my pants tonight because something told me that tonight wasn't the night for that to happen. Of course, I knew that it will probably never happen in my lifetime, so this simply reassured me that I didn't need to prance around in some skimpy, sexy lingerie that would never see the light of day. I threw on a long-sleeve shirt and yoga pants, and then quickly towel dried my hair before I threw it up in a messy ponytail.

I walked out of my room to see Edward still sitting in the same spot I had left him on the couch, but now he was flipping through the channels on TV. I grabbed another water bottle from the cooler and sat down on the right end of the couch.

Edward gave my outfit a quick once over again and had an amused smirk on his smug face.

"Huh, I figured that you'd only wear a nightgown or negligee to bed."

"What makes you think I don't wear that to bed at night?" I threw him a coy smile.

"Really? Will I get to see it soon then?" He sounded really excited and playful.

I shook my head. "No," I laughed at him, "You're not special enough to see my lingerie…yet" I mumbled the word 'yet' under my breath, but I had a feeling that Edward heard it because his mouth went from a sad pout to a big crooked smile that made my heart race a little faster

He took a sip from his water bottle, and I couldn't help but to stare at his lips, mouth, and throat as he gulped down the water to quench his thirst. I immediately snapped my eyes away from him when he pulled the bottle away from his mouth and crushed it in his hand. He gave me sly smirk and held a knowing gleam in his eyes because he definitely caught me staring at him. I cleared my throat before diving into the question that was on my mind.

"So what are you doing here exactly?"

"I came to see if you were alright. Mom told me you left early because you weren't feeling well, and I wondered if it had to do with what happened earlier on the dance floor." Edward shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly.

"Oh, yeah, well dealing with your crazy girlfriend's tantrum embarrassed me and gave me a headache, so I decided to call it a night. Speaking of your psycho bitch, does she know that you're here in my hotel room right now?"

I looked at him with scrutiny because I was in no mood to deal with another tantrum if Tanya chose this moment to come and reclaim her territory on Edward again. Edward leaned back onto the couch and relaxed a bit.

"Beats me, I don't know where she is right now. She's probably back at her place throwing her shit and screaming," he said in such a dismissing tone of voice.

I looked at him bewildered by his statement. "What do you mean by that?"

"I broke up with her after her little childish tantrum that not only embarrassed you, but humiliated me as well. I had enough of her jealous tirades and told her was over. Then I dumped her sorry ass into a cab and told her to get lost, and that I never wanted to see her again."

I looked up at Edward, completely shocked by his cold demeanor and attitude. Where did the boy that I fell in love with go? Maybe he was like this the whole time I knew him or maybe it was Jessica's betrayal and living the past five years to stew in the bitterness that made him so distant and cold. I missed my sweet friend, Edward. The boy who'd try and catch me when I fall and then laughed whenever I brought him down instead because I was so much larger than he was.

"Hmmm…" I hummed, still deep in thought. Edward looked at me funny for awhile now.

"What?" I asked defensively, slightly unnerved by his staring.

"What were you thinking about just now?" he asked like he wanted to unlock my head and take a look inside.

"It's nothing really." I tried to brush it off and move on to the next topic of discussion, but he wouldn't let it go.

"No, please tell me." He was a persistent man.

"Well…" I let out a sigh of surrender. "I was just thinking how easily you dismissed Tanya, and how callous you are right now in not even caring about breaking up with someone you've been with for so long."

"Well, I wasn't that serious about her. I didn't really care for her much." He explained. Again, he sounded so cold and heartless.

"But you were together for about four or five months, and you don't feel anything?" I looked at him incredulously.

"No, why would I? She was just another gold-digging whore that only wanted me for my money and my family's name. She never really cared about me or loved me, and I was never really that into her anyways."

I had a feeling that my questions were making him feel uncomfortable because Edward sat up rigidly from his spot on the couch and turned to directly face me. I sat there, gaping in dismay at his words.

"Then why the hell were you with her in first place if you didn't really like her, Edward? You were just stringing her along." I accused him.

Edward gave me a slight evasive shrug of his shoulders as his answer. I slowly shook my head in disapproval at him with a look of pity.

"Wow, she did quite a number on you, didn't she?" I whispered to myself, but Edward heard me clearly.

"Bella, like I told you before, I don't give a shit about Tanya," he said, and then he ran his fingers roughly through his hair.

I shook in my head in disagreement. "No, I'm not talking about Tanya, you jerk. I'm talking about Jessica."

The look that Edward gave me told me that I had definitely hit a sore spot. He glared venomously at me with dark eyes full of hate, resentment, and betrayal at the sound of that name.

"You don't know what you're talking about, so I'd be quiet if I were you." He sneered at me, but I scoffed indignantly at him and rolled my eyes at him defiantly.

"You'd be surprised, Edward, because I may understand you better than anybody you know."

As soon as I said these words, memories of my life with Derek flooded back into my mind, but I quickly drew my eyes back up to Edward as he gave me a look of disbelief.

"I don't think so, Bella. I highly doubt you know what you're talking about." He hissed at me, and I pursed my lips into a thin line, absolutely pissed off at his immediate disregard of my life after I left Forks.

"And what makes you so sure about that, Edward," I growled at him, "That I couldn't possibly have a life after I left high school, or that nothing could ever happen to fat-ass Bella Swan? Did you honestly think that my life could have been a completely boring, miserable existence without your presence in it because you think you're the center of the universe?"

Edward stared at me, speechless at my rant, which only made me roll my eyes at his arrogance.

"Edward, I do understand some of the pain that you're going through, but I'll admit that I won't understand all of it because that was just messed up in what Jessica tried to do to you. However, I do know how painful it is to find out the infidelity of that single person that you were loyally committed to with your entire being. And I understand that betrayal because my fiancée left me for another woman."

"You were engaged?" he asked me with so much wonder that it irritated me.

"Yes, Edward, I was engage to someone once upon a time." He looked at me in an astonished shock. "What? You expected me to be miserable and alone for the rest of my life. I actually made a good life for myself once I got the hell out of Forks." I gave him a look of contempt.

Edward shook his head. "No, it's just that you never said anything."

"Well, you never asked." I replied curtly.

"Yeah, maybe I should have." He sat there silent for a moment. Then he looked back up at me. "It seems you know my story, so what happened in yours?" he asked me with a pleading look on his face like he had been looking for something to understand his pain.

I chewed on my bottom lip a little and took in a deep breath.

"His name was Derek. I met him at a mutual friend's party during my last year in Julliard. I thought he was cute and a nice guy, but I wasn't really looking for relationship at that time. I just wanted to have fun, but he pursued me."

I smiled wistfully at the memories when Derek had done his best to woo me. Those were some good times. Then I remembered I was telling Edward my story, and I continued.

"Well, all his hard work finally paid off, and he took me out for our first date the day I graduated with Master's degree. We dated for three years after that, and then he proposed to me by river." I smiled sadly at the romantic night, and how he and I made love that night. I had to blink back a couple of sad tears from falling down my cheeks.

"Um, after a couple of months, things were different. Things began to change drastically. He didn't say 'I love you' to me or wouldn't answer it back when I said it to him. The way he made love to me was strange and foreign, and he didn't look at me the same way like he did before. There was no love in his eyes, only guilt and sadness. We fought more often than not, sometimes to the point when he couldn't be in the same room with me anymore.

"One day, he sat me down and told me that it was all over. When I tried to get him to explain to me what was going on, he gave me some bullshit about how fate stepped into his life and sent him his true soul mate in Sheryl. The crazy part was I was standing right next to him when he first met her. Sheryl was the cousin of my good friend, and she had recently moved to New York, so my friend threw a party to introduce her to some new people and make her feel welcomed. Derek told me that he met the one that he was destined to be with that night, and that he didn't like how it tarnished their love anymore by sneaking behind my back like they had done for the past several months. So he wanted to end things with me since he wanted to be with her. Then I asked him if she was his true love, then what were we, more importantly what was I to him all those years. He told me that he cared for me, but he had realized that he was never in love with me. I was simply holding Sheryl's place in his heart. That night, he left me feeling like I was never enough to hold onto him; that I wasn't good enough for him to love."

I brushed away a few tears that escaped my watery eyes. I looked away from Edward like that would keep him from seeing me cry. Edward scooted next to me and wrapped his arm around me to comfort me. I didn't know why, but my body leaned against him like it was the natural thing to do. He held me as I cried at the memories of my failed relationship and the feelings of inadequacy and insecurity it left behind. I sniffled some more and composed myself before I looked to him.

"What about you, Edward? You've changed so much since the last time I saw you."

I looked up into his sad eyes that were so close to my face. It nearly broke my heart to see all the pain and suffering he had to endure all these years in fear of being hurt like that again.

"When I found out about Jessica's affair, it crushed me, but what was worse was her deceit over the baby that she was carrying. I thought he was mine, and I love him immediately. I was so happy and excited to be a father and that I created something so precious with the woman who I loved so very much. But it was all a lie. She never truly loved me or else she would have never been unfaithful. And the baby…" he trailed off, unable to finish his sentence.

A tear slid down his cheek. Edward was crying from the memory of Jessica's betrayal. I wiped it away from his face, and he reached for my hand and cradled it in his large palm.

"It nearly killed me when I found out that he was never my son to begin with, or that she was going to continue to lie to me and have me raise the son of her lover like he was very own. I discovered then that the bitch was only really after my money and the lifestyle that it would provide her. She never really cared about me or my family. She was simply a cold-hearted bitch, selfish and cruel. How I was so blinded with my infatuation and affection for her; we all were. Well, maybe not you."

He smirked down at me. I looked down in knowing that he was right, I never liked Jessica because I was mad and jealous of her.

Edward continued his story. "I learned then that most women out there were selfish, shallow beings, only after a man's worth and money because those were the things that provided them power and stability. They would take you for all that you're worth and then throw you away after they had their fill. I knew then that they couldn't be trusted and I refused to let my guard down, only except for my mother, Rose, and Alice. Now I find the company of women only to fill my physical needs and to have some fun with to pass the time," he said dryly, but I could tell there was a tint of remorse there.

Quite frankly, Edward's explanation sounded heartless and empty, but I expected this from a guy who had the ultimate relationship wounds inflicted upon him and had such enormous emotionally scars that would drive anybody to the point of no return.

I sat up on my knees and gently cradled Edward's head in my hands. I held him close to my chest. There was nothing erotic or seductive about it, but it was very intimate. I hoped that it would give some comfort to Edward's wounded soul. I combed my hand through his hair gently back as he calmed his quiet sobs to the beat of my heart, and it must have lulled him to sleep. I gently maneuvered my body out from under him, so I could lay his head down on a pillow and prop his legs up on the couch in a comfortable laying position. I took off his shoes and socks and unfastened his belt buckle out of his pants. I felt a little weird doing this to Edward while he was sleeping and a little surprised that he actually sleep through my jerky movements, but he didn't wake up once and kept on sleeping. I threw over him the extra blanket in the closet and turned off the TV and all the lights in the room except for the dim light over by the doorway. I stumbled into my room, but I didn't close the door, in case Edward needed something during the night.

I woke up the next morning completely alone in my hotel suite. Edward must have left some time during night because all I found was a folded blanket with a folded piece of paper lying on top of it. It only said, "Thank you" and that was it, but honestly what else did I expect for him to write, a sonnet that professed his undying love for me. Yeah, like that would ever happen.

It's been several months now, and I hadn't seen Edward since that night. It was like it was a distant dream that never really happened in the first place. However, I had met up with Alice and Rose for coffee or for lunch on several occasions, and they kept me up to date about their husbands and family.

Rose and Emmett had very exciting news in that they were expecting a new bundle of joy in eight months. I was thrilled for them, though I did think this news had to sting Edward and his family a little with the memories of Jessica's pregnancy.

Alice had once mentioned that Edward was seeing someone new for some time now, and that she seemed to have some prospect with him. Her name was Kate, and she was another lawyer that he met through one of his colleagues. He appeared to be happy with her, and they were getting serious. I had to admit that this piece of news crushed my heart a little bit, and I secretly cursed whoever introduced Edward to her down to the hottest pits of hell. I even cried myself to sleep over my stupidity for holding onto some hope that Edward might've seen me differently, and that he might've wanted to be with me.

Time passed, and now Thanksgiving was quickly approaching us. I wasn't driving down to Forks for dinner due to the fact that my mother wanted my father to take her on a cruise for their thirtieth wedding anniversary, but he could only schedule time off during the week of Thanksgiving. So Nessie and I had to make our own plans for the gluttonous holiday, which didn't really matter to her because we normally had dinner with Jacob's family and the Clearwaters ever year, so Nessie, Jacob, and Jeffrey were driving out there anyways.

I, on the other hand, didn't know what I was going to do for dinner. I didn't really feel like driving all the way to Forks and coming back the follow day. I couldn't and I didn't want to stay for the entire long weekend because I had a concert that following Sunday and rehearsal on Saturday. All my friends were flying out of state to visit their families. Lily was going back East to Boston to spend the holiday with Josh's parents, while Ian and Ethan were flying to California to see their family, bringing Lia and Cathy along with them. They all offered me to come with them, but I declined. So now it looked like I was going to spend the holiday by myself, which didn't seem that bad to me. I would make a small turkey and all the trimmings that I loved. There would be enough for me to eat and have leftovers for the weekend. And I could watch movies all night to keep me company.

I was in the middle of making a grocery list for my first Thanksgiving on my own, when I heard my phone ring.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Bella, what are you doing?" Alice chirped on the other end.

I shook my head in awe at her constant good mood.

"Nothing much, just making a grocery list." I hummed as I scribbled down 'sour cream'.

"Oh? Why are you stocking your frig when you're going back to Forks for most of the week?"

"Uh…_red potatoes…_ Huh? Oh, sorry, Alice…Um, yeah, I'm not going back to Forks for Thanksgiving." I mindlessly spoke as I continued to work on my list.

"Then who are spending Thanksgiving with?"

"By myself along with Johnny Depp, Colin Firth, and a whole slew of Hollywood A-listers." I laughed lightly at my corny joke.

"What about spending it with Garrett?" Alice asked.

"No, he's going home to Indiana for Thanksgiving, and I think it's still too early for me to go home with him for the holidays, if you know what I mean." I shifted my weight nervously between my feet.

Garrett Wilson has been the guy I had recently started seeing. He was very tall and handsome with his long blonde hair that was tied back into a ponytail. He was a teacher in the History department at Ethan's school. Ethan set us up as a favor to me for doing the same with him and Lia. Plus, my friends thought it was time for me to date again, and so after a grueling process of elimination, Garrett managed to pass all the qualifications and requirements my friends had set up. We met and hit it right off, but there was still something off about our chemistry to me, but Garrett didn't seem to notice it. We've been on a few dates alone and had doubled with my friends twice. He was nice, but I honestly didn't see wedding bells anytime soon. I was going to see where this would lead.

I had mention him to Alice a couple of times over the course of the three weeks I've been seeing him, and she was dying to meet him in person, but I've been holding it off for the past couple weeks now. I didn't know why, but if I introduced him to Alice or Rose, or any of the Cullens for that matter, it made it seem more final. My mind suddenly drifted to Edward, but I stopped myself from completing that thought of him.

There was a long pause before I heard Alice speak again.

"Bella, you're joining my family for Thanksgiving." She announced.

"Wh-huh? No, I can't, Alice. I don't want to intrude on your family's Thanksgiving." I sputtered like an idiot.

"Pssh, whatever, Bella, you're not intruding on anything, so you're coming. Don't make me call my mom on you." She threatened me with the one person she knew I couldn't possibly say no to.

"Fine, Alice," I resigned, "Are you sure it's not going to be problem at all?"

"I'm sure," she said happily.

"Can I bring anything?" I wanted to offer something to the table.

"No, all you need to bring is your pretty little self. Oh, and a date if you have one too."

"Well…" I trailed off. "Fine, I'll see what I can do in bringing him along, but I'm not sure if he managed to get a flight home for the holidays or not. Let me ask him and if he's available, I'll bring him along for you to meet him."

I heard Alice's loud squeal of joy. "Oh, that's sounds wonderful. Let me know as soon as you can. Bye, Bella!"

I hung up with Alice and gave Garrett a call. He picked up after the second ring.

"Hello, Bella," he purred into the phone, which made me cringe a little when I heard the way he said my name. It felt odd, and I didn't like it very much, but I ignored my instincts.

"Hey, Garrett, how are you?"

_God, I sound so formal._

"Good, so what do I owe the pleasure of your call, O sweet Bella?"

_Ugh, he can be so corny._

I rolled my eyes to myself, knowing full well that he couldn't see me.

"I was just wondering what your plans were for Thanksgiving. Did you manage to book a fight home?" I drummed my fingertips on the counter next to my list of groceries.

"No," he sounded disappointed. "There weren't any good deals left online, and the seats available were too expensive, so I called my parents to tell them not to expect me for Thanksgiving. But hey, I was able to get a sweet deal for Christmas, and maybe I could book another ticket for you as well, if you'd like to join me?" he asked with a hopeful hint in his voice.

My eyes bugged out of my sockets in surprise because I was definitely not ready to hear that request. It was way too early in the relationship to make such plans to meet the family during the holidays. I mean, Derek and I didn't attend any of our official family holidays with either of our families until we've been dating well over a year and half. Garrett and I have been on three dates by ourselves and on two with all my friends.

"Uh, I'm sorry. I'm going to Forks to spend it with my folks because we're not spending Thanksgiving together this year. Sorry." I answered remorsefully, but honestly, I really wasn't.

He let out a sad, "Oh."

I felt a bit guilty for hurting his feeling, but he was moving way too fast. I silently debated whether or not I should ask him to the Cullen's Thanksgiving dinner, when he asked me why I called again. So I decided to ask him because nobody should be alone on Thanksgiving.

"Well, if you're alone for the holiday, my friend just invited me to her family's Thanksgiving dinner. Would you like to come with me as my date?" I asked, but now I really wasn't sure if I wanted him there with me.

On second thought, Edward will be there with his new beau. Maybe it will be a good thing to have Garrett there as a buffer to keep my mind occupied.

"Sure, thanks for thinking of me, Bella. That's so sweet of you, babe."

Babe? Okay, when the hell did we switch to pet names?

"You're welcome," I tried my best not to sound so bothered by his name of endearment. "I'll call her back right now to confirm our RSVP, and I'll get the details from her and call you back," I said quickly.

"Sounds like a good plan. I'll talk to you soon then, babe." I scowled at the last word. My name was Bella, not _babe_.

"Bye, Garrett." And I hung up right away before he'd gotten another chance to call me _babe _again.

I tried to ignore the funny feeling growing deep in the pit of my gut as I dialed Alice's number, but it didn't go away during our conversation or after I finished talking to Garrett again with the details. It only grew more and more with each passing minute, and it was bothering the hell out of me, but no matter what I did it wouldn't go away. It was like a bad omen as if something awful was beyond the horizon for me. All I knew was it was unsettling and unnerving, and I didn't like it one bit.

Garrett had picked me up Thursday evening, and we made our way to Alice's house for what I only assumed would be the most awkward dinner of my life. I didn't know what to expect from tonight's gathering, but I did know one thing. I was going to have to see Edward Cullen again. I hadn't seen him since the night of the benefit in June, now it was November. A lot of time had passed since then, and inside, I was a nervous wreck.

Alice and the rest of her family greeted me happily at the door. She made a little comment about how gorgeous she thought Garrett was and that we looked good together, which brought a sad smile on my face. Garrett was a handsome guy, but it was a shame that I truly wasn't that into him. It wasn't his fault but more my own. I didn't know what was wrong with me, but I kept finding his flaws and was becoming more unattached to him each time I saw him.

Of course, I immediately spotted Edward standing next to a beautiful woman. She was tall and had a gorgeous figure that could rival that of Rosalie, but she seemed to be more on the petite side compared to Rose. The woman had straight, pale blonde hair, which only accentuated her round eye and seductive curves. This woman had to have been Kate because she was snuggled closely at his side and wore a lovesick smile that told me everything I needed to know about her feelings for him.

I felt my heart crumbled, and I thought that I was going to be sick, but I had managed to suck it up and move forward. Garrett stood next to me and placed my hand in his as we walked into the living room to join the rest of the guests for dinner. I said a couple of polite hellos to some of the people that I already knew or have met previously at the benefit, but I refused to look over at Edward or acknowledge that I even knew he was in the room. We settle ourselves down on the couch, and Garratt immediately place his hand on top of my thigh.

"Can I offer ya'll a drink?" Jasper asked. "We have imported beer and had just opened a bottle of Chardonnay if you'd like."

"I'll have a beer." Garrett looked at me with a "what would you like" look on his face.

"I'll have some wine," I croaked out. Internally, I was on edge, but I'd managed to hide anxiety well because nobody seemed to notice my nerves. I'd accidentally made the mistake of taking a quick glance in Edward's direction, and I noticed his heavy glare toward me and Garrett. I naturally assumed that he didn't like me intruding in on his family's Thanksgiving dinner, which made my mood grow darker, and my heart sank deeper into my stomach.

I did my best to lighten my mood and focused most of my attention on Garrett, Alice and her family, well except for Edward, and the dinner itself. It was tough because my blasted eyes would unconsciously wonder in his direction, and I'd grown more depressed with each stolen glance and hidden touch that he and Kate would shared together. I breathed in a deep breath to calm the unsettling sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach, or else dinner would've made its reappearance again in front of everybody.

Thankfully, Garrett was affectionate and attentive to me that evening and he seemed to be enjoying himself immensely. During dinner, he talked up a storm with Jasper as they discussed topics of American History. Garrett loved the American Revolution and the period after war, while Jasper specialized in the Civil War era and the Reconstruction period afterward. The two historians were lost in their own world, but Garrett never made me feel neglected as he kissed my hand or brushed my leg throughout the evening.

What I found strange was that Alice had not left my side either and neither did Rose. I'd have thought that they would be by Kate's side, taking her in as an honorary sister because she was Edward's girlfriend. Alice had told me earlier that they were getting serious because they were now seeing each other exclusively. It seemed like Alice wasn't even close to Kate at all, they only shared in a brief moment to talk, but it was more like polite small talk.

Honestly, a small part of me didn't trust any of the Cullens to stick around me anymore, and I naturally thought that they'd ditch me again for the new girl in Edward's life because that was what they did to me last time with Jessica. So I was a little surprised to find Alice talking and joking around with me instead of her twin's new beau.

I spent so much energy in avoiding Edward and Kate that I didn't realize that it was already eleven o'clock, and it was time for me to go home. Alice tried her best to convince me to go shopping with her for the Black Friday sales, but I declined. Then Garrett had made a comment that made me blush and feel a little uncomfortable.

"I'm sorry, Alice, but I think she'll be way too tired in the morning because we're going to probably stay up all night, trying to burn off all the calories from that delicious meal."

When I heard these words come out of Garrett's mouth, I saw everyone's reaction. Everyone laughed; blew a wolf whistle; or let out an obnoxious catcall, while Edward looked downright angry and upset. His reaction didn't make any sense to me though. Why the hell would he be upset when he was probably going to the do the same thing with Kate later tonight? It didn't stop me from flushing a deep shade of red though because not only was I mortified by the innuendo Garrett had just made in front of my friends and their family, it left me feeling incredibly uncomfortable because I didn't want to have sex with Garrett nor did I have any intentions on sleeping with him anytime soon.

I had yet to sleep with him, but I knew he wanted to very badly. He had asked if he could come up to my place with the hopes of nailing me about two weeks after we started dating. I simply told him that I wasn't ready, and then I lied to him saying that I normally didn't sleep with a guy until I'd dated him for at least a month or two. So now, it's been a little over a month since we started dating, and it was obvious that he was expecting tonight to be a little different than how we usually ended our dates with both of us going home alone.

I pulled on his sleeve to tell him that I wanted to leave. Garrett must have taken my gesture as a good sign because he gave a cheery goodbye before walking out the door. Too bad for him, I was pissed off as hell because I was completely horrified by his assumptions and lewd comment. I followed behind him after bidding everyone a thank you and goodnight.

The car ride was quiet, too quiet. I was too upset to say anything to him without wanting to throw him out the window, and he was too eager to get me home as quickly as he could. As soon as he turned on the street where my apartment building was, his eyes immediately darted along the street to find parking, but I gave him a disdainful look that told him not to bother with it.

_What an idiot!_

"You can drop me off in front of my building," I said coldly.

Garrett stopped the car and gawked at me incredulously.

"I thought that we'd…" he started saying, but I finished his sentence.

"…Stay up all night, working off all the calories from tonight's dinner?" I gave him a dirty, disgusted look.

Garrett ducked his head a little and rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, well, I just thought that…it's been over a month now…"

_Holy crap, he only wants to get into my pants! I'm going to kill Ethan for fixing me up with a disgusting jerk._

"Yeah, it's been a month, but I don't spread my legs for just anybody because we've been dating for that long. So if you think that I'm going to let you fuck me, you're sorely mistaken because you're not getting any from me." I fumed.

I got out of the car and looked inside of the car.

"Oh, and if you ever say anything like what you said in front of my friends and family ever again, I will not hesitate in castrating you. Now go home and take a cold shower…alone by yourself!" I shouted and slammed the door shut. Oh, our relationship was unquestionably over.

I huffed angrily all the way to my apartment building. When I finally calmed my rage to a simmering foul mood, I drew a bath and soaked the rest of my anger away in the hot water.

As I lay in the bath, my mind started turning, and I began to reflect on the evening, even before my fall out with Garrett in his car. I knew I was really hard on him and had completely overreacted back there. I couldn't blame the guy for thinking that because it was only natural for him to want to go the next level of intimacy with me. And I did lie to him about waiting for a month.

I let out a long sigh as I covered my face with my arm. Water cascaded down my arm, and I found the splashing noises soothing. Then I started to think back to the main cause of my annoyance and frustration throughout the night. Edward freaking Cullen…he was always the cause of all my heartache and headaches.

As soon as I laid eyes on Kate tonight, I could see why he was so taken by her. She was beautiful, absolutely gorgeous, smart, witty, and charming. And then to find out that he was seeing her exclusively, giving up his playboy, man-whoring ways just for her, it was like a stab in the heart. It felt like Jessica Stanley all over again, except now I should have known better than to allow myself to let him affect me this way.

The water was getting cold, and my fingers were wrinkly like raisins, telling me that it was time for me to get out. I didn't realize how late it was because it was one in the morning by the time I drained the tub and cleaned up the bathroom. It was late, but I didn't feel like sleeping. Hot chocolate was calling to me, so I made my way into the kitchen to make a cup, when I heard a sharp knock at the door.

_Who could it be at this hour of the night? Could it be Garrett? Naw or maybe it is? Is he going to force me to have sex with him? _

Completely scared, I grabbed the baseball bat my dad bought me as protection. He was worried about me living alone, so I took it to placid him. The knocking got louder and sounded very urgent, forcing me to run to the door before whoever it was woke up my neighbors.

"Okay, hold your horses…" I grumbled as I struggled with the door lock and jerked the door open. I didn't expect to see who it was standing at my doorstep.

"Edward? What are doing here?" I asked, stunned by the frantic look in his eyes.

His gaze swept over my body. Then I realized that I was in nothing but my short, white cotton bathrobe. Why the heck did Edward always show up whenever I just got out of the bath? His eyes grew even more upset, and he didn't wait for an invitation to come in and barged into my apartment. He looked around the living room like he was looking for something.

"Edward, what…"

"Where is he? Is he in your bedroom?" He stood in front of me and looked me straight in the eye.

"Who's here? What are you talking about?" I shouted at him because his antsy behavior was rubbing off on me.

Then it hit me. He was talking about Garrett. Edward wanted to know if we slept together, but why did he care if I did or not. Edward grabbed a firm hold on my shoulders and looked into my eyes.

He asked one more time, "Is he here?"

I shook my head side to side. "No, he's not. I'm all by myself."

Edward looked into my eyes to see if I was telling the truth, and then immediately his eyes softened a bit.

"Edward, wh-" but his lips seared a hot kiss onto mine, stopping me from talking.

I instantly froze over the shock that Edward Cullen was kissing me, but my shock lasted only for a second because my body naturally moved accordingly on its own. I felt his tongue sweep across my lips, begging them to open. I slightly parted my lips and welcomed his tongue into my mouth as mine greeted him warmly. My hand traveled up his arms, neck, and finally into this messy, copper mane that felt silky smooth to my touch.

Edward pulled me hard against his firm body, holding me in his strong arms. We started moving, somehow managing to make it into my bedroom. We both found the bed as Edward fell back and was sitting down on it and pulling me onto his lap. I felt his hard erection grinding against my hot, naked center.

Edward's hands began to roam, and he soon discovered that I had nothing on underneath my white bathrobe. And much to his pleasure, his eyes feasted on my naked flesh as the knot of my robe loosened, and it fell open. Edward pulled away from our kiss, but his mouth didn't stop tasting, nipping, licking, and teasing me as his mouth lead a trail of fire down my neck to my breasts.

Soon we found both our bodies naked and entangled in each other's arms. Every logical thought in my head went out the window with each of Edward's sweet caress and touches, which enticed my sensitized body to the edge. My back arched, and my mouth hissed as Edward's sweaty body rubbed and slid across my body. He claimed me as his that night, repeating over and over the word 'mine' into my ear as his erection slid in and out of me.

I didn't understand what was going on, but I simply didn't care because all my fantasies of being with him in his arms like this, everything that I had ever wished for, came true that very moment, and my heart was overjoyed.

Pure bliss and ecstasy overwhelmed my senses as he made me come. My body screamed out in pleasure as I chanted his name over and over like it was prayer. I hummed with satisfaction and delight as I came down from my orgasmic high. It was like pure heaven, a trance that was too good to be true.

I snuggled deeply into his side and felt Edward's arm wrap around my back. Right then, as I gently placed my hand to lie on top of Edward's chiseled chest and moved it in a lazy fashion, I felt his muscles ripple under my touch. It was then my brain snapped back to reality, and the daunting truth crushed me under its weight.

_I just fucked Edward in my bed. _I briefly looked down at our entangled naked bodies, and smiled subtly to myself.

_Wait, he was still with Kate. Did that make me the other woman? Oh, God... _

My mind screamed so many questions as it reeled in sheer panic at the magnitude of what just transpired between the two of us. It changed everything now, and how the hell was I going to face any of the Cullens after I let Edward fuck my brains out, only to have him walk out of my life, completely destroying my heart and soul into nothingness.

_Okay, enough with the theatrics, Bella, and focus here!_

Edward must have felt the tension and panic coursing through my body because he moved around to allow me to look up at him.

"Hey," he gently whispered as he leaned forward to kiss me on the tip of my nose.

"Hi," I shyly mumbled before he captured my lips, so I could taste his lips once again.

We both moaned as we responded to each other's touch and gentle caress. I pulled back before I lost myself in the kiss again. I was left panting hard as I gathered my wits about myself, but it was really difficult to do when Edward started sucking on my neck while his hands roughly grabbed my breasts and pinched my pebbled nipples.

"Ed-ward," I gasped, as all my worries and fears flew out the window when Edward's tongue played with my sensitive flesh.

After our second round of immense pleasure and fun, I had given up on finding answers. I couldn't form the words to ask him anymore. Besides, I didn't really want to think about anything, but I did wonder whether Edward would still be here in the morning when I woke up. I would be lying if I said that a part of me wish that he would stay through the night, but then again, a large part of me knew that I'll probably wake up alone. However, I didn't want to think about that at the moment. I was going to enjoy this for as long as I could, and I let myself fall asleep and drift into a wonderful dream where Edward and I were together like this, forever.

All of a sudden, I woke up to a loud rapping noise coming from the door. I groaned a little while trying to wake my sleepy brain up. My alarm clock told me that it was only four in the morning. Who the heck would show up at my door at four o'clock in the morning?

Then I remembered that I wasn't alone last night. I looked over my shoulder to see that I was indeed alone in bed, which meant that Edward had gone home already. I did my best to fight back the tears, but a few escaped. I quickly brushed away the stray tears, grabbed my robe off the ground, and put it on.

I ran to the door and jerked it open. There stood little Alice, fully alert and awake with energy, looking keenly up at me with a bright smile.

What was it about this family and showing up at my door in the middle of the night?

"Alice, what are you doing here? It's four AM; people are normally asleep at this time. I mean, even the sun's still dead to the world for goodness sake." I whined loudly at her.

Alice, being who she was, pushed past me and walked into my apartment.

"Sorry, Bella, but you know what day it is, and I refuse to let you not experience the wonders of all that Black Friday holds." She cheered, and then looked at my appearance more closely. "On second thought, I must have interrupted something good. Is Garrett still sleeping?" She gave me a sly smirk as looked over her shoulder into my bedroom.

Luckily, the lights were off and you couldn't really see into my room. Then I saw the trail of clothes that was skewed across the floor. It was mostly men's clothing and shoes that littered my floor. It meant that Edward was still here because he wouldn't have gone home completely naked without his clothes.

Realizing that I didn't have any panties on, I self-consciously tugged on the hem of the robe to cover myself and shifting my weight between my feet. I let out a nervous chuckle as I nervously tugged on the knot of my robe even more and squeezed my knees together.

"Um, well…uh…" I faltered with my words.

"Not exactly, Alice." Edward stepped out of my bedroom, wearing only his boxer shorts.

My eyes nearly bugged out of their sockets, and so did Alice's too.

"Edward, what are you…" Her eyes took in his form and then they traveled up and down my body.

She put two and two together and let out a loud, high pitch scream that rang shrilly in my eyes.

"Alice, please, you'll wake up my neighbors," I hissed at her to shut up, but Alice was completely speechless for once in her life.

"But…you," she stammered as she point to Edward and jerked her finger at me. "And you…" she stuttered.

I would have laughed at her shock and fumbling to find words, if it weren't for the sheer terror swirling through my mind. It was the one of the rare moments that anyone had caught her totally off guard enough to leave her stunned beyond words. Alice managed to calm herself enough to complete an entire sentence.

"Wait a minute, Bella, aren't you still with Garrett?" She gave me an accusatory glance.

I shook my head no. "I ended things with him right after we left your place last night."

"You did?" Edward looked surprised by this sudden development.

"Yeah, I did."

Edward took at few steps towards me. "Why?" he asked, knowing full well the answer to his question.

"Because…" I looked down and fiddled timidly with the hem of my robe. "He wasn't you." I shyly mumbled.

Edward was now by my side, but Alice cut me off before I could say anything to him.

"Wait, and Edward, aren't you with Kate?" she screeched at him.

"No, I'm not." He said, and his eyes gazed deeply into mine. "We got into a fight, and we broke up last night."

"Oh, you did?" I asked him with a hint a hope in my voice.

"Yes, I did."

"What did you fight about?" I asked curiously, wanting to know what was the final nail that ended their relationship.

"She was jealous because she couldn't stand the fact that I wished that I was with someone else last night."

"Oh," I sighed dejectedly and looked away from him. I had figured that it was probably one of his other girlfriends or someone glamorous and stunningly beautiful.

Edward lifted my chin up with his finger. He kissed me sweetly on the lips.

"She was very jealous of you, Bella." He smiled warmly at me. "She was furious with me because I was too consumed with my jealous anger as I had to watch that tool touch you and hold you throughout the entire night. I tried my best to hide my anger and envy away from her, but I didn't a very good job in doing so because she left me at the end of the evening. She had realized that someone else had already captured my heart, and there was no room left for her to take."

Edward pulled me closer to his frame and wound his arms around my waist. He brushed away a few of my happy tears from my cheeks as I bit my lip to hold back the flood of emotions that threaten to unleash themselves and leave me a crying mess. Edward kissed me, while I whimpered and moaned in pleasure against his mouth.

We had forgotten that Alice was still in the room, and so before we could fully enjoy ourselves and let go to our sensual desires, she cleared her throat with a loud 'ahem' and stood there in a stand that demanded for us to explain ourselves.

Edward and I, ourselves, were still looking for confirmed answers to our questions, so we didn't have much to tell her. However, when she asked, "So are you two together now," Edward answered, "Yes," before I could form an intelligent, vague answer.

I whipped my head around to look up at him, dazed by his answer.

"Really?" I asked timidly. Again, tears threatened to fall from my eyes. I just couldn't believe that this was all happening. All those years of dreaming, mourning, and trying to move on past Edward seemed like a distant memory, fading away from my mind.

"Yes, really," Edward said with so much conviction that I knew he was telling me the truth.

Alice let out another high pitch squeal, but now I didn't care if she woke up my neighbors because the man, whom I longed for and believed that I'd never be with, had just told me that he wanted to be with me. This was all so surreal.

"Well, I think I better get going now. I'm sure that you two want to be alone now, so Bella, you can stay here and _talk_ to my twin." She gave me a sly look that told me she knew that we weren't going to "talk" much. "They'll be other Black Friday's to go shopping together." She commented joyfully to herself before she turned and gave us one last brilliant smile. "I'll see you two soon. Bella, call me and, Edward, you better treat her well or else." She playfully threatened her brother.

I laughed and walked her to the door and hugged her goodbye. It was slightly awkward, given in my current state of undress, but she didn't seem to mind one bit. When I finally closed the door behind her, I turned around to see that Edward as standing only a half a foot away from me. He tenderly took my hand in his and pulled me back into the bedroom, so we could talk comfortably in bed.

After we settled into a comfortable spot with me cuddling in his arms, I began my slew of questions.

"But I don't understand. You left that night of the benefit, and I never saw you again. Then I heard you were dating Kate, and the two of you were becoming serious with each other, so I assumed that you didn't want me at all…" I rambled as I tried to make sense of all of this.

Edward sighed and lightly dragged his finger across my cheek.

"I'm so sorry to have done that to you, Bella. That night, I woke up from whispers coming from your bedroom. At first, I thought you were talking to someone on the phone, but then you said my name. Then I remembered that you used to talk in your sleep when we were little, so I discovered that you still do as an adult." I blushed at his revelation. Edward stroked my stained cheek with affection and looked deeply into my eyes.

"You looked so beautiful and angelic, lying there in bed. It took every part of me not to climb into bed with you and claim you as mine. Then you said something that made time stop for me. You said, 'Edward, please don't leave me again,' and then you said that you loved me. You don't know how happy it made me feel to hear you say my name followed by an 'I love you'. I wanted to wake you up and show you exactly how much I wanted you, but then the words 'Please don't leave me again' struck me hard. Soon, I realized how much I'd hurt you in the past. I'd always known that you liked me in high school, but I was so blinded by my feelings for Jess that I dismissed you and didn't care about you. I'm sorry, Bella, for being such a jerk to you back then and recently too. I promise that I'll never treat you badly ever again."

He sealed his promise with a light kiss, and I pressed my lips harder against him to show him that he was forgiven a long time ago. When we pulled apart, Edward hummed in contentment and had lost his train of thought.

"Hmm…where was I?"

"You realized what a jerk you were to me back in high school and for the past couple of months." I said lazily as I playfully drew circles over his smooth, hard chest.

Edward grabbed my hand and pulled it to his mouth and affectionately kissed each of my fingertips. I smiled kindly up at him at his thoughtful gesture.

"Yes, and I apologize again for that, Bella. But you see, Bella, I saw how terrible I had become since my divorce. I used women to satisfy my needs and then threw them away like paper. After I realized how horrible I was to you in the past and the monster that I'd become now, I felt that you deserved better and that I was deem unworthy of loving you. So I left with that simple note of thanks. Even though it torn me up inside, I thought that if you had very little contact with me, then you would eventually forget me again and move on to someone better. It took all of me not to go to you in the middle of the night because I missed you and wanted to be with you so badly. I greedily took any news of you from Alice and Rose, which satiated my need for you for the time being. I wanted to make myself a better man, so that if fate did intervene and you'd give me a second chance, then I'd be ready to take it with you.

"Eventually as the days went by, I threw myself into my work, which kept me busy. Then I met Kate and thought she was nice, and I thought this was a chance for me to prove to myself and everyone that I had change. So we started dating, but as time went by when we were together, I couldn't help but to notice that there was missing in our relationship. At first, I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but then I realized she wasn't you. I wasn't truly happy with Kate or loved her because of the simple fact that she wasn't you, Bella."

His eyes burned brightly as his heavy gave dazzled me senseless. I felt my body melt into his frame and all I wanted was for him to be in me again, but then my inquisitive mind started working again and curiosity over it my physical needs.

_Stupid brain!_

"But why did you stay with her then?" I murmured softly.

Edward took a moment before he spoke again. "Because you moved on."

I jerked my head off his chest and moved my body, so I could straddle his waist to get a clear look on his face. Edward shifted under me, so that his erection was nestled underneath me. We moaned a little at the wonderful friction it created.

_Questions and answers come first, then sex, Bella._

"What do you mean by that, Edward? I never moved on from you."

"Alice told me that you started seeing someone new." He looked away from me.

_Garrett…._

"I was going to break up with Kate and then go beg for you to give me a chance, but you moved on." He sounded so sad. "So I stayed with Kate. Then Alice told me that you were bringing him to Thanksgiving dinner, so I thought that it was pretty serious between the two of you. Despair filled me and depression followed. I was so miserable, Bella. Then I saw you two together and my jealousy overtook me. I couldn't stand watching him touch you, hold you, or kiss any part of you. Then when he said that he was going to take you home to 'work off the calories' all night long, I couldn't take it. I was so upset and angry that I ended up picking a fight with Kate, and she left me."

I nodded my head thoughtfully. I couldn't find the word to say to him how I felt at that moment. Soon I felt Edward's hand slid from my thighs up to my hips. Soon they found their way under my robe, playing with my flabby flesh. I blushed deeply at the tingling sensation his finger gave me.

"Edward…" I moaned slowly as I started moving my hips to grind myself down on the tent in his boxers.

He hissed in response and lifted me, so he could pull down his boxers. I immediately grabbed his harden length and pumped him several times, getting him ready for me to take into me, which I did and I almost came within that second. I bounced and moved on top of Edward, taking him in fully. I had to grab on my headboard as leverage so I could move faster and harder.

"Mine!" he growled over and over again as he flipped us so that I was now underneath him and he was driving into me with so much force that it left me panting and screaming for more.

Each time I heard my name reverently cross his lips; my heart raced on and told me that he wanted me. I screamed out "Yours," as we brushed against each other, moving our bodies as one. We both came, as we screamed each other's names with awed praise. Soon, we snuggled close together comfortably in each other's arms. Edward played with my hair as we gazed up into the ceiling. Then it dawned on me how much time was lost because of our foolishness.

"Edward, I wished that you would've talked to me sooner, or maybe I should have gone to you first. We wasted so much time and heartache over our needless fears and worries. I have loved you for as long as I can remember, and I'd already forgiven you for the past. Can't you see that I've been waiting for you all this time to finally take notice of me and see me, so that I can love you with all that I have and more?" I whispered softly as I leaned forward and place a soft kiss on his neck. I smiled as I felt him shake at the yielding touch of my lips.

"I love you, Bella, and I'm sorry for making you wait for me all this time," Edward whispered as he cupped my face with his hands and kissed me with so much passion and love that I knew he was telling me the truth.

_Edward Cullen loves me. _ My mind screamed as my heart soared.

My dream had finally come true, and all the past heartache I endure seemed to be worth it all the pain it caused because it brought me here to this moment where I was in his arms and heard those special little words that made my heart soar and brought happy tears to my eyes. His thumbs brushed away the tears as he made sweet love to me all over again.

* * *

_**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews. I know Edward comes out as a douche in the first chapter, but he was hurting pretty badly from all the damage Jessica's affair caused. Bella is his medicine, plain and simple. And for all of those who think Bella forgave Alice and Edward way too easily, like she's just like that. She saw Alice's sincerity and Edward's always held a soft spot in her heart. Bella is the type of person who once she forgives, she will forget their past transgressions. Plus this is a long two shot that I didn't want to drag out too much with angst and it's fiction too. ^-^**_

**_Up next will be the epilogue/conclusion of "Dreams Come True."_ **


	3. Epilogue

**A/N: I don't own Twilight.**

**Here is the epilogue to my very long two-shot, which is now a three-shot. **

**Enjoy.**

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**Epilogue**

* * *

_Five Years Later…_

"Momma! Momma, look at me!" squealed little Zach as he pumped his tiny legs on the swing. Edward was behind him, pushing our little four year old son and making sure that he doesn't fall off the swing or worse, jump off of it like he always tries to do.

It was a nice warm summer's day in Seattle, and the sun was shining brightly down on my bare shoulders. My little family opted in going out for a picnic in the park together because it was the best day to spend the day together outside.

While Edward was busy with our energetic four year old son, I had a peaceful moment to myself and my precious little angel, Sophie, who snuggled warmly in her stroller while sucking on her little pacifier.

I leaned back against my arms and looked up at the sun that happily shined in the blue sky. I used my left hand to block the sun's brightness from blinding me. Then I caught the sparkle of the diamond ring that adorned my fourth digit. The engagement ring that Edward gave me was absolutely lovely. It had belonged to his Grandmother Elizabeth, Carlisle's mother, and Esme inherited it when she passed away many years ago.

The day Edward proposed was memorable to say the least. Let's just say that we experienced a lot of ups and downs in our relationship in that day. I had found out that I was seven weeks pregnant the day before our six month anniversary. I couldn't describe how ecstatic Edward was over the news of our little bun in the oven. Suddenly, he had popped the question to marry him. To say that I was surprised was to say the least of everything. At first, I turned him down because I'd figured he was trying to do right by me and our baby and proposed out of duty, not out of love. We fought so much that night. Oh, I thought we were on the verge of a break-up when he finally explained to me that he had already planned on proposing after dinner that night. He told me that he'd already gotten my father's permission and both of our parents' blessings. When he pulled out his grandmother's ring, he had convinced me that he proposed because he wanted to and not because he had to.

Then he suggested that we should elope in Las Vegas, but I immediately said an adamant "no way in hell" to that option because I didn't want some cheesy, quick marriage in a casino or in Sin City, but I actually wanted to have a nice small wedding ceremony with our closest family and friends there to celebrate our happy day. Edward reluctantly agreed to it, but then he wanted a quick engagement.

So I asked him, "What's the rush?"

He simply answered, "What? I want to marry you and make you my wife as soon as possible. Plus, we're having a baby, and I don't want to have him or her out of wedlock."

He was so old-fashion and conservative when it came to these things, though I had to admit that we were doing things a little backwards to say the least. We were going to have a baby first and then get married, instead the other way around. I had no issues with it, but I could see that it really bothered him greatly.

The only problem was a wedding took a lot time to plan, but I also had a changing, expanding body to deal with, and not to mention a baby to prepare for. Plus, I didn't want to have walk down, or waddle down, the isle, sporting a protruding baby bump underneath my wedding dress. So after a lot of convincing, and I mean a lot of kissing up or more like going down on Edward, to have him see things my way in waiting until after the baby was born. For the time being, Edward had to settle with putting his grandmother's ring on my finger and making me his fiancé instead.

Both our parents were thrilled with the happy news of our engagement and our soon-to-be bundle of joy. Though Edward did look a wary of my father and his gun because he didn't know how Dad would've reacted at the news that his little girl was knocked up before she was married. Lucky for him, Dad was thrilled by the news and was placated to see the engagement ring on my finger that promised Edward's intentions towards me.

Rose and Emmet had recently welcomed their little daughter, Alexis, into the world a month ago. They both were thrilled that little Alexis was going to have a cousin to play with soon. Alice had been overcome with baby envy and wanted to join the baby wagon along with us. So she and Jasper decided that it was a good time to start a family together.

Lily, Ethan, and Ian were all less than thrilled by my news after I announced to them that we were together. They wouldn't let go of their ill feelings towards Edward and Alice for awhile. At first, they thought I had exonerated their past crimes against me too easily, but they knew that I wasn't one to hold onto grudges. I was a firm believer in second chances. This was a trait that they both loved about me and also worried about me as well. They sometimes thought that I was too forgiving, but then I kindly reminded how this particular attribute of mine saved our friendship on a few occasions. It took some time, but I got them to see that they had changed and that I had forgiven them wholeheartedly.

Eventually, they saw the Cullen's genuine affection for me, and they realized that I was very happy with Edward. Like the best friends that they were, they all supported me and made an effort to get to know Edward and his family. Soon, they'd accepted him and our relationship. Now they were fighting over who would be my kid's godparent.

I loved every moment of my pregnancy and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I couldn't understand how women complained about the horrors of being pregnant, but I guess that I was simply blessed with a supportive fiancée, friends, and family to make the process that much smoother and pleasant. Not to mention, all the sex Edward and I had throughout my pregnancy was phenomenal. I knew for a fact that Edward truly loved how his hormonal, pregnant fiancé was hornier than ever and demanded sex almost every night and most mornings in a week. It was a bonus in the fact that he was already insatiable for me, and my pregnancy basically helped me keep up with his never ending appetite for hot sex and left me panting for more.

Seven and a half months later, we welcomed little Zachery Kevin Cullen into the world. That was an eventful day to say the least. I remembered all the pain my contractions gave me. It was so painful that I didn't know what to do but to unleash my anger onto Edward.

_Flashback…_

"_EDWARD, YOU DID THIS TO ME! I SWEAR TO GOD AND ON ALL THINGS HOLY THAT YOU WILL NEVER TOUCH ME AGAIN! DO YOU HEAR ME, EDWARD ANTHONY CULLEN? YOU WILL NEVER EVER TOUCH ME AGAIN!" I screamed as I got ready to push my baby out of my body. _

_Edward simply cowered a little, but he stood his ground. Thankfully, he didn't take any of my harsh words too seriously, but he did go on to say the stupidest thing a man could ever say to woman ready to deliver a baby._

"_I'm sorry, love. You know I'd gladly switch places with you if I could." _

_Edward truly sounded sincere, but I didn't hear it like that. It was as if he was mocking me. Like he knew that would never happen, so why just offer the impossible to ease his own mind. I gave him the dirtiest look of pure rage and frustration as another contraction hit me like a bulldozer. He actually looked scared for his life, and he should've been. _

'_If he could switch places…' Ha! I'd pay good money to see that happen. Let's watch and see how wonderful he feels when he has to squeeze something the size of a football out of a hole that's only ten centimeters. _

_Edward finally did the smart thing by shutting up and just held me as I got ready to push._

_End of flashback…_

Words could not describe how beautiful my little Zachery was. He had blue eyes that I had hoped would turn green like his father, and he was bald as a cue ball. We couldn't really tell who he really looked like, me or Edward, but we did discover that Zach had Edward's chin because there was a little clef on his tiny chin that reminded me of my fiancée. He was adorable and absolutely precious, and we loved him to bits.

I knew on that day, all the past scars Edward had held onto from the wounds that Jessica had inflicted upon him with her treachery were melted away the moment he held his son in his arms. He found solace and peace, maybe even some salvation, in having our Zach's tiny body in the palm of his hands for the very first time. I fell in love with my Edward all over again that day and vowed a silent promise to guard his heart and happiness dearly for the rest of my life.

After we brought Zachery home from the hospital, Edward and I soon discovered that having a newborn baby was exhausting, but it was well worth all the lack of sleep, dirty diapers, and spit-up milk for we couldn't imagine our lives without him. Thankfully, we were blessed with the calmest, the most easy-to-please baby in the world. The only time Zachery ever cried was when he was hungry, needed a diaper change, or had to go down for a nap because he was cranky, but that was it. He easily entertained himself in his crib because he would spend hours curiously staring at his mobile or the bright padding along the side of his crib. I definitely knew for sure that he was Edward's son because he was a charmer. He effortlessly won over the hearts of anybody with his cute little smile and chubby little cheeks. Without doubt, my son was going to break a lot of hearts when he grew older.

It wasn't until about six months after Zachery was born that Edward began nagging to me about setting a wedding date, so we could resume planning for our big day.

_Flashback…_

_I had finally settled Zach down in his crib for the night. He was getting better at sleeping through the night, so it gave Edward and I plenty of time to enjoy being alone with each other._

_I crept into our bedroom and found Edward already in bed, shirtless and gorgeous. He was typing furiously away on his laptop. I didn't think he heard me come in, so I let him work for a few more minutes while I went into the bathroom to wash myself clean and get ready for bed. I brushed my teeth first and then ran into the shower._

_I accidentally dropped the soap, but as I bent down to pick it up, I felt a familiar pair of warm hands grab the side of my hips and pulled my ass to brush against something very hard and very excited to see me._

"_Mmm…" I moaned as I grinded my butt harder on Edward's erection while I slowly straighten up my back. _

_Edward hands traveled in different directions. One skimmed its way up to cup my breast and playfully thumb my pebbled nipple while the other ghosted its way down between my thighs and tease me to the brink of insanity. My arms reached up and behind my head, so I could run my hands through his hair and neck. I tilted my neck back, so I could capture his lips into a searing kiss._

"_Hello, my love." I greeted him as I sensually kissed his pouty red lips._

_Edward gave me the sexiest smile as he said, "Hello to you too, love." _

_He proceeded to kiss and grope me as we made out under the hot stream of water. Edward finally let me wash my hair, but he insisted that he'd get to wash my body as I did his._

_When I was stroking his cock with my left hand, he hissed in pleasure, but then he looked down at the ring on my hand. He looked down at it with such an intense expression on his face, but then he lost it as soon as he pulled me up and took me roughly against the shower wall._

_When we were finished with our shower together and dried each other off, Edward took my hand and walked me into our bedroom. He sat me down on our bed, and I thought he was going to go for round two, but he sat down next to me instead. He took my left hand in his large one and began to play with my ring._

"_Bella, I think it's time we set a date for our wedding. I think you've made me wait long enough to make you, Mrs. Edward Cullen." He pouted, making the cutest face that I could never say no to._

_I knew my answer was an "Okay, let's set a date soon,' but, strangely enough, I didn't answer him right away. I quietly looked down my body to my feet. The white fluffy towel covered most of me, but I grimaced at all the pregnancy weight that I knew was hidden underneath the cotton towel. I lost about half the weight I had gained while carrying Zach, but I still wanted to lose about twenty more pounds before I went off and tried to squeeze my ass into a pretty white gown._

_Edward must have known exactly what I was thinking about because he lifted my chin up to look up into his gorgeous green eyes. They told me everything he was feeling because I could see that they were filled with love and adoration for only me._

"_Love, you know you are beautiful to me no matter how much your body has changed. Please, let's set a date soon?" he cooed. _

_My eyes gazed over a little but I, soon, focused back to the matter at hand. _

"_Edward, you know I want nothing more than to be your wife as soon as possible, but I want at least nine months to plan this wedding. Plus, it'll give me enough time to lose all my baby weight." I bargained._

"_Three months." He argued._

"_Six, and I'm not going any less," I said firmly._

"_Deal." He grinned widely at me and captured my lips with his to seal our little deal._

_End of flashback…_

After negotiations were made, Edward sealed the deal with a kiss that lead to another session of rough sex. The thing about Edward was he could play many roles in the bedroom. Sometimes he showed me his tender and kind side, making love to me slowly; other times he was playful and adventurous; and then there were times when he gave it to me fast and hard. That night Edward thoroughly stuck it to me with wild, rough sex. He made me scream his name so loudly that we accidently woke up our son. I was so incapacitated by the high from the overwhelming orgasm his cock rendered to me, that it forced Edward to get out of bed and tend to our son.

"The next house we buy, we're going to soundproof our room." He grumbled as he climbed back into bed thirty minutes later.

I laughed at him and welcomed him back into my arms. We continued to celebrate, keeping in conscious mind that our son was sleeping peacefully in the next room.

Unfortunately, we had to push back our wedding date for three more months, so technically I got my wish for nine months. The original date was too close to Zach's first birthday, and I knew that I'd be too overwhelmed with planning his first birthday party and my wedding at the same time. Edward knew this as well and reluctantly agreed to set the date back for three months later. The bonus part to the delay was that we could have little Zach walk down the aisle as our ring bearer.

My wedding was magical, everything I pictured since I was little girl. Alice was a godsend when it came to planning parties and events. I didn't know where I would have been without her eye for detail and meticulous organizational skills for both affairs. Everything was perfect, completely perfect.

One of the most precious moments during our wedding was when Zachery walked down the aisle, dressed in his little tuxedo and his bronze hair slicked back in a stylish do. He looked adorable, and I was so proud of our son. On his way down the aisle, he got a little distracted by all the people in the room, and he decided to stop and greet to each and every one of them. Zach had gone through a phase where he'd stop and say 'hi' to anybody who'd cross his path. It was cute, but sometimes it scared me because once he'd stopped a couple really scary looking bikers that looked like they'd mug you or beat the crap out of you if you'd looked at them the wrong way. My son said a sweet little 'hi' to them and the comical part was that these scary looking men smiled dotingly down at my kid and said a gruff 'hi' back.

It was only when Zach saw his daddy that he screamed "Da-da!" and ran down to Edward while squealing for his father. I couldn't witness the whole thing myself because I was stuck behind the door, waiting for my turn to make an entrance into the chapel. I did hear Zach's loud squeal and everyone's laughter in the chapel. I watched the whole ceremony later on tape. It brought tears to my eyes because I got to watch my husband happily wait for our son to run into his arms and hold him proudly in front of everyone to see.

But the moment I will remember for the rest of my life was the moment I entered the chapel. All eyes were on me, but my eyes were on Edward. His face held pure love and happiness as he looked at me with awe and splendor, and it was all for me. I know I sound conceited, but never in my life would I have guessed that Edward Cullen would look at me in this way. I remembered over a decade ago how I gave up on this dream that day at the altar when he married Jessica, but now he was marrying me because he loved me and was willing to bind himself to me for the rest of our lives on this earth. My dream had finally come to be, and it was one of the happiest moments of my life.

Edward whisked me off to Tuscany for our honeymoon. We spent a glorious ten days in a quaint little villa in the hills. We toured all the local sight-seeing sites and visited some of the local wineries, but we mostly took full advantage of our seclusion and privacy. We'd missed our little baby boy, but it was wonderful to have no interruptions while my husband made passionate love to me, and I could be as loud as I wanted to without worrying in waking up our son.

We were in love, and we couldn't keep our hands off of each other. We had both come so far as individuals and as a couple. The months flew by like they were days, and I dived back into the performing arts. I had switched over from being a part of a section in an orchestra to a soloist. The charity for the Children's Hospital did open doors for me and, not to mention, the CD that I had released with Ethan and Ian. It was a success and had placed all three of us on the musical map. The was great interest in Ethan's band from different record labels, Ian's reputation spread and his clientele of recording musicians grew, and I was recognized as a talented cellist and performed in several events as the featured soloist.

I made my comeback to the performing arts about five months after Zach was born. I was getting quite famous, but not to the point where I'd be recognize and mobbed by people on the streets. No, I was getting a lot more invitations to perform at concerts and charity events. It took me away from my family sometimes. It led me to travel across the country and sometimes abroad for a concert, but I couldn't stay away long from my family. After Zach turned one, Edward and I thought he was big enough for him and Edward to accompany me on some of my trips.

There was one particular trip to New York that was quite eventful to say the least. I was invited to play with the Philharmonic Orchestra again, but I was the main event instead of being another musician lost in the large ensemble. Edward was home with Zach, but my boys were always with me in my heart. Consequently, I had surprisingly run into Derek after the concert that night though. He had actually come to see me that night, but the strange part was he came alone and not with Sheryl.

_Flashback…_

"_Bella," he called out, "Hey, there, darling, how are you?"_

_I stared back at Derek in an unwelcoming fashion. I wanted to say to him, "What the fuck are you doing here? I thought I told you that I never wanted to see you again," but we were surrounded by too many of people for me to use such brash language. So I settled for a very cold, "Hello, Derek," and brushed by him quickly to put as much distance between the two of us._

_Derek didn't seem to get the message though because he kept on following me out the building and onto the parking lot, trying to get me to talk to him. Therefore, doing my best to ignore him had failed, I finally acknowledged him to see why he was pestering me._

"_What do you want, Derek? I thought I made it very clear that I never wanted to see you again." I angrily spat at him._

"_Whoa, Bella, what's with all the hostility? I just wanted to say hi and tell you that you look fantastic." Derek's eyes roamed over my body, particularly my breast, which made me extremely uncomfortable. _

_I had brought my left hand up to cover my chest from his leering eyes when my rings caught his eyes._

"_You're engaged?" he asked incredulously._

"_No," I curtly replied. Derek looked relieved for a second. "I'm married." The relief promptly drained away from his face._

"_When did you get married?" His voice slightly trembled, and I looked upon him curiously. _

_I didn't understand why he was acting this way or why he even cared. _

"_Um…a little over six months ago," I said nonchalantly._

"_How long have you been with your husband?" he asked suspiciously._

_I eyed him skeptically. "Edward and I have been together for about three years now."_

"_How did you two meet?"_

_I gave him a suspicious look. "What's with the twenty questions, Derek? Why do you need to know so much about my life?"_

_Derek shot me a look of anguish mixed in with anger. "Because, Bella, I haven't seen you in such a long time. Can't a guy want to catch up with a long lost friend?"_

_I scoffed once in disbelief and shot look of contempt. "Yeah, I'd love that too if we were still friends, Derek. But remember, you left me for another woman, for goodness sakes. I think that's a clear indicator that we're not friends anymore." _

_I turned to walk away, but he stopped me. Now I was pissed. _

"_What do you want from me, Derek? Go bother someone else. I don't think Sheryl will appreciate you talking to me like this." I hissed at him, aggravation thick in my voice._

"_Sheryl and I aren't together anymore." He whimpered._

_Well, this was certainly a new development. I blinked at him blankly. _

"_When did this happen? I assumed you two were engaged and already married by now. I mean you told me yourself that she was your one and only true soul mate. You broke up our engagement for her after all," I said condescendingly. _

"_We split about two years ago. It turns out that she wasn't the one for me. She wasn't you." Derek mumbled sadly, pleading to me with his pathetic eyes to pity him._

_Oh, my God, I was not listening to this. I put my hands up to stop him from saying more self-damaging, humiliating confessions to me. _

"_Derek, stop, please. I hope you're not trying to say what I think you're about to say." I eyed him cautiously._

"_Bella, I made a terrible mistake in leaving you. I see that now. Please if you'll just give me the chance to make it up to you…" he pleaded._

_I stared at him in disbelief. "No, Derek, it's already too late. I'm a married woman, and I'm…"_

_He cut me off. "No, it isn't, darling. You've only been married what, for six months. It's still early to plant down deep roots with your husband. You can get a divorce, or even better, you can get it annulled. I can help you with that." _

_He sounded totally crazy. I slowly backed away from back toward the building, slightly worried for my own safety and for another's as well. _

"_No, Derek, I can't, and I won't leave Edward or Zach." I spoke firmly._

_Derek looked bemused for a second. He asked, "Who's Zach?" _

"_My son," I said, "He's going to be two in three months."_

"_Is he from your husband's previous relationship?" he asked, while he was trying to calculate everything in his head. I rolled my eyes, annoyed with his assumptions._

"_No, he's ours, Edward's and my son. We had him first, and then we got married a couple months after our baby turned one." _

_I was tired of reasoning with him, and I wanted to go back to the hotel to rest, so I went in for the kill to end our conversation. _

"_Derek, you have to know that whatever you say won't change my mind. I will never leave Edward or my babies."_

_Derek did a double take at me. "Wait, did you say 'babies'?" he asked dubiously._

"_Yes, I did." I answered indubitably._

"_But I thought you said that you have a son."_

"_I do, but I'm also expecting another one…soon." My hand unconsciously cradled my stomach protectively._

"_You're pregnant?" he gasped._

"_Yes, I am." I smiled giddily to myself._

_Edward didn't know yet, or else had he known, he wouldn't have let me travel by myself on this trip. I had taken a pregnancy test the other night after I finally put the clues together that I might be with child. I had been feeling nauseated for the past few days, but only during the morning. On top of that, I realized my period had skipped a month and that I was late again. So I walked to the nearest drugstore from my hotel and picked up a home pregnancy kit. There were two pink lines that told me that I had another bun in the oven. Now, I was simply waiting until I got home to tell my husband and son in person that we're were going to welcome a new baby into our family._

_Derek looked as if I had slapped him hard across the face and had the wind knocked out of him. I took that as an opportunity to get away from him and briskly walked to the car. _

"_Bella," Derek called out to me. "Are you happy?" _

_I had just reached the rental car. I turned around and said a confident "Yes, I truly am."_

"_Then I wish you the best," he sadly said and turned away to walk out of my life for good._

_End of flashback…_

I went home the following day to my Edward and to my son. Edward was more than thrilled at the news of our little bundle of joy growing in my womb. Zach didn't really understand, but he was happy nonetheless.

On the other hand, Edward wasn't too happy and was downright pissed when I told him about running into Derek. He wanted nothing more than to fly out to New York, track Derek down, and beat the living crap out of him. Of course, I had to distract my husband from killing my ex by showering Edward with loads of special attention. I knew that he was thrilled to have his horny pregnant wife back.

Later that night, I explained to him that even though it was painful to see Derek again, and even sweeter to know that Derek and Sheryl didn't work out, I knew for a fact that I had moved on from my past, and now I had a great life and future ahead of me. I believed that fate seemed to work itself out in the end, and it brought closure for me in that chapter of my life.

What we didn't expect to have was for fate to intervene in Edward's life as well because we ran into his past unknowingly and in the least likely place ever.

We had gone back to back to Forks to celebrate my father's fiftieth birthday. It was in the early spring, so the weather was nice and cool. I was only two weeks away from my due date to when we would finally get to meet our little Sophie, and I really, really wanted her to come out of me as soon as possible.

Unlike the time I was pregnant with Zach, Sophie was a little more difficult. My morning sickness didn't go away until my third trimester began, and unlike her calm brother, Sophie kicked up a storm, especially at night. I knew right away that she was going to be a challenge for Edward and me.

Edward still loved my growing belly and our daughter growing inside of me. He loved my changing body even more, which meant lots and lots of groping and hot sex for me, not that I was complaining. Edward claimed that he was fulfilling his husbandly duties in ravishing his sexy pregnant wife while he still could until our Sophie was born, and then he'd have to wait for a month or so while my body healed. We didn't wait the full six weeks after Zach's birth, so I had my doubts that we could wait the full six weeks after Sophie, which we didn't.

My parents were out of milk and cereal for breakfast the next morning, so Edward volunteered to go to the supermarket to pick some up for them instead. I tagged along with him because my mom and Nessie were driving me up the wall with all their hovering over me. Zach was having too much fun with his grandpa, Jeffrey, and Jacob, so he stayed behind. I, on the other hand, needed some fresh air and alone time with my husband.

Edward was in the other aisle getting cereal and some raisin bread and peanut butter for my cravings. I was standing near the frozen ice cream section, looking for ice cream that Jeffrey and Zach might like for dessert. I reached into the freezer and grabbed the last Rocky Road ice cream that they had, when a boy, about nine or ten, walked up to me and grabbed the carton of ice cream right out of my hand.

_Flashback…_

"_Um, excuse me, kid. That's mine." I didn't yell at him, but I spoke in a kind, gentle voice. He was only a little kid._

_The little boy, however, didn't like that I said something to him and glared viciously at me like I was going take it away _

"_Why, you sure don't need to eat anymore to feed that fat ass of yours." He smirked arrogantly at me._

_I heard a gasp from the older gentleman a few feet away from us. I was also so shocked and appalled by his rude behavior that I nearly forgot where I was. _

"_Excuse me, kid, you shouldn't speak to anyone like that, especially to adults." I reprimanded him, but the kid rolled his eyes at me._

"_Whatever, lady, you can't tell me what to do cuz you're not my mom." He retorted back with so much attitude._

_I laughed out dryly. "Yeah, and if I were your mom, I'd beat that snarky attitude out of you first." I threatened him. _

_The little kid actually looked scared for a moment, but then relief filled his eyes as a woman with frizzy brown hair walked towards us._

"_Justin, what's going on?" The woman, I assumed was his mother, asked him. _

_I watched as the kid forced fake crocodile tears out of his eyes as he tried to look like I was terrorizing him._

"_Mom, th-this mean old lady yelled at m-me. I wa-as getting i-ice cream for us when sh-she started scr-screaming at me for no good reason." He stuttered as fat tears rolled down his cheeks._

_The woman held her son close to her and turned around. My eyes grew wide as an angry Jessica Stanley glared viciously down at me while trying to calm down her son. Jessica Stanley was no longer the beauty queen that she was back in high school because the past decade hasn't been too kind to her. She looked as if she only put on about thirty pounds since high school, but it looked like more since she tried to pinch and squeeze her body into clothes that didn't fit her well. Her tight yoga pants made her sport a muffin top and a camel toe, and it was clear that her bra was the wrong size because they created rolls along her back that had been outlined by her skin-tight t-shirt. Her hair was no longer brown, but several different shades of blonde to light brown, but her roots were evident that she needed to go back to the salon for a touch up. Though, I wanted to tell her to stop coloring her hair so much because the damage of the harsh chemicals from the bleach left her hair looking brittle and dry. _

_I remember my mom telling me that Jessica had moved back in with her parents three years ago with her kid. She worked at the bank as a teller. I also knew that she wasn't with Mike Newton because my mom told me that Mike was living happily in Philadelphia with his wife and three kids. My mom had a field day when I had introduced Edward to her and my father. I didn't give her the details behind Jessica's infidelity or his divorce, but she knew enough to put two and two together, as soon as she saw Jessica's son when she came back into town._

_The kid smiled maliciously at me, and I heard the gentleman grumble something in disapproval from behind us. _

"_Who are you, and what did you do to my son!" Jessica screamed. _

_I was so stunned to say anything to defend myself. I automatically wrapped my arms protectively over my stomach and stood there gaping at her dumbfounded as Jessica continued to scream at me for yelling at her son. _

"_What business do you have in making my kid cry?"_

_I shook my head to clear my thoughts and I finally spoke. "Look, Jessica…"_

"_How the fuck do you know my name?" she spat out._

_Well that answered where her little kid learned to say all that foul language._

"_Jessica, we went to high school together. I'm Bella."_

"_Bella…Bella Swan? Fat-ass Belly Swan." She laughed mockingly down at me._

_I narrowed my eyes in anger. My eyes swept down her frumpy body and laughed._

"_Okay, looks who's talking, Jessica. You're too blind to take that head out of your ass to see that I'm almost nine months pregnant. Now what's your excuse?" I mocked her openly._

_Jessica was seething in rage. "Whatever, bitch, I don't have time to waste with a loser like you. Now, apologize to my son, you worthless piece of trash!" she screamed. _

_I scoffed indignantly at her demand, and then I remembered who I was now married to._

"_No, I believe it's your son who owes me an apology for his rude behavior, but judging by who's his mother, I'm not that surprised by this foul mouth. Anyways, I'm no longer Bella Swan, but now I go by the name of Bella Cu…" _

"_Bella!" Edward shouted loudly as he ran to me._

_He instantly wrapped his arm around my shoulders protectively, pulling me close to him and gently placed his other hand over my belly._

"_Edward," Jessica gasped._

_Edward immediately tensed as he looked on to his ex-wife, and then he glanced over to the little boy in her arms. His face changed to a stoic expression, void of emotion. It reminded me a little of the time when he had just entered into my life again and before we had gotten together._

"_Jessica." He nodded his head curtly._

"_What are you doing here back in Forks? I thought you still lived in Chicago." Her eyes shined brightly with so much longing and hope for her former husband, who she cheated on and who was now happily married to me._

"_I'm here to celebrate my father-in-law's birthday," he said flatly._

"_You remarried?" Jessica sounded hurt and surprised like she thought he'd never move on with his life after she almost destroyed it._

"_Yes," he answered with loving affection as he gazed down at me._

"_You married Fat-ass Belly Swan!" she shrieked. _

_Edward's eyes glared viciously up at her as soon as he heard those words. "You will take that back. Bella is my beautiful wife and the love of my life." Edward's voice was low and threatening, but it didn't seem to faze Jessica one bit._

"_No, I was your wife and the love of your life first, not her!" she screamed defiantly back at him._

_I let out a dry laugh. "Yeah, and look what you did with it, you two-timing-slut." I grumbled. _

_Edward snorted amused, but Jessica stewed in anger. I watched her face change colors before my very eyes._

"_What do you know, bitch? All I remember is that Edward ditched you in high school for me," she said righteously. "You were a fat cow then, as you are now. Nobody cares about you, especially Edward, now that I'll be back in his life again." She shot her nose up in the air like the cocky deluded bitch that she was._

"_Please, what makes you so sure that Edward would ever take you back, you lying, skanky whore." I mocked her._

_Jessica vibrated violently in rage as I threw her scandalous mistake back in her face. Then she took a look at my pregnant body and let out a haughty that sounded very insulting._

"_Have you taken a look at yourself lately, Swan? You're still fat and ugly. He chose me over you once before in high school, I'm sure he'll choose me over you again now." She was so sure of herself._

_Edward stopped me from refuting back to the psycho, but said, "You're right, Jessica, now why would I choose an ugly, deluded person over someone so beautiful and pure?"_

_Jessica smiled smugly at me while I looked up at my husband with bewildered eyes. What the hell was he saying?_

"_I'm sorry, Bella," he whispered down at me. _

_Oh, God, this was not happening to me again. He couldn't possibly choose this lying bitch over me again. Panic filled my heart as tears welled up in my eyes._

"_I'm sorry for not choosing you in high school. I should have chosen you a million times over her, and if I could go back and change things, I would in a heartbeat. I'm just lucky that you'd given me a second chance, and you've made me the happiest man in the world, my love." He bent down and captured my lips in a searing kiss. _

_I whimpered into his mouth as I wanted nothing more than to have my dirty ways with my husband in the middle of the aisle, but I decided not to for the sake of everyone around from seeing my round belly and gigantic boobs. _

"_What?" Jessica whaled, "You don't know what you're talking about, Edward! Remember you loved me first, and you ditched this ugly, fat cow for me back then."_

_Edward pulled away from our kiss and glared daggers at Jessica. _

"_Yes, Jessica, and that was the biggest mistake of my entire life. I did love you once and had married you, but you cheated on me and what's worse was that you lied about everything we had, especially about the child that you were carrying. You knew he wasn't mine, yet you tried to fool me into thinking he was mine, so I would raise him, and you'd get to live off of my money for the rest of your life." He hissed. _

"_But Edward, baby, please…" she pathetically begged._

"_No, face it, Jessica, you made a huge mistake, and it cost you everything that we had. I found a wonderful new life with my wife, Bella, and I love her for not only is she the mother of my children, she has made me whole again after you almost tore me down. I should have never let her go in high school, and I'd be a fool if I let her go now."_

_End of flashback…_

Edward whisked me away, but not before I swiftly snatched back the Rocky Road away from the evil spawn of that deluded psycho bitch, Jessica. We paid for our groceries and made our way back to my parents' house. I was so turned on by Edward's performance back there at the store, that I made him pull over to the side of the road into some brush and proceeded to give him the best hand-job ever. I would have preferred to give him a blowjob, but I couldn't bend down for a long period of time because of my protruding belly. I did, however, suck him off just before he came, so he wouldn't get semen all over the interior of our car. Now that would have been gross.

Later on that night, I let Edward fuck me in my childhood bed. The same bed we used to sleep together as we were little kids. I was surprised that I didn't wake up my family with all the heavy panting and muffled screams from the many orgasms Edward gave me that night. More importantly, I was surprised that I didn't go into labor from all the sex we had that night either.

After one of our many sessions in our love making, Edward had told me that he was glad that he got to see Jessica this one time. He explained that he now understood what I meant that night I had told him about my run-in with Derek and the closure I felt from that encounter. It was as if he got the chance to show her that she didn't break him completely, and that whatever power she did have over him was now completely obliterated.

He told me that he spoke the truth when he wished he could change things the way they were in high school, and that I was the one who fully heal his wounded heart back together again. Finally, he professed how truly happy he was and how much he loved me for my forgiving, gentle heart and love for him. He really did consider himself the luckiest man alive for all that we had found each other again. I slept peacefully in his arms that night, grateful that Sophie let me sleep all through the night.

Sophie Elizabeth Cullen was born into the world on May 30th. She was gorgeous with cute button nose and dark reddish brown hair. At first, we couldn't determine who she looked like, but much to her father's delight, she had my brown eyes and white skin. She also had Edward's delicate, gorgeous features and his bronze hair. And as we predicted, she was the opposite of Zach in that she was fussy baby and demanded our constant attention, but she had all of us wrapped around her tiny, chubby little finger.

My life was now truly perfect and wonderful, but it wasn't always like this before. I've been betrayed by people I trusted and loved dearly, but I also learned how to forgive and to show compassion to them as well. Life had taught me that second chances were a precious gift to give to someone, if you were willing to put aside your misery and anguish and forgive them. Sometimes things might not turn out as you'd wish for them to be, and you may regret your decision in the end. But other times they could be so much more wonderful and the blessings come back to you tenfold. It did for me, the day I gave Edward Cullen and his family another chance. I never regretted my decision once in my life because after all the heartache and suffering I had endured, they were all worth it because they made me a stronger person and made me appreciate everything I had in my life. And it all worked out for me in the end because all my dreams ultimately did come true.

The End

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**A/N: I hope you liked it. I wanted to thank everyone for their comments and reviews.**


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